Turkish quake the latest in a century of Anatolian tremors

Turkey is situated on a fault line, making it vulnerable to earthquakes  ALSO: Among the ruins of quake-stricken Turkey: A moment of encouragement  MESSAGE BOARD: Turkey Quake

August 18, 1999
Web posted at: 10:31 a.m. EDT (1431 GMT)

From Science Correspondent Ann Kellan:

(CNN) -- The cities devastated by the Turkish earthquake lie atop a geologic rift that has wrought havoc on the region throughout the century.

The quake struck near the industrial city of Izmit, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) east of Istanbul, with an estimated magnitude of 7.8.

Though scientists cannot predict earthquakes precisely, Tuesday's disaster came as no surprise to geologists familiar with the region. Scientists say earlier, smaller tremors put the area at high risk of a major quake.

Turkey sits astride the North Anatolian Fault and has endured numerous earthquakes this century. The worst came in 1939, measuring 8 on the now-unused Richter Scale and killing 23,000 people. The fault also leaves Iran and Iraq vulnerable to quakes.

Those nations are located near the edge of the Arabian tectonic plate, a piece of the Earth's crust that is moving slowly toward Europe.

"Plates' motions are fairly steady and regular," said Robert Wesson, of the U.S. Geological Survey. "In California, we're moving about an inch a year. The same type of motion is occurring in Turkey."

International rescue teams were going block by block in many areas Wednesday, searching for signs of the living amid the rubble. The area was hit with more than 40 aftershocks, many of them reaching 4.5 in magnitude, government officials said.

Seismographs around the world picked up Tuesday's tremors, researchers said.

"The vibrations around the Earth were strong enough to be seen or observed for about two to three hours," said Tim Long, a seismologist at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

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