Investigating the Earthquake Cycle along Marmara Sea Region of North Anatolian Fault by means of seismo-geodetic observations

Since 1766, the North Anatolian Fault Zone in the Marmara Sea has not generated a M_w=7.0 earthquake. In the Marmara Sea, three different segments are located having ~25 mm slip rates and ~10 mm slip deficit per year. The faulting mechanism within the Marmara Sea has capability of generating earthquakes larger than M_w7.0. We are continuously monitoring this critical region with more than 30 seismo-geodetic stations equipped with 100 Hz sampling seismographs and 1 Hz sampling GPS receivers, in order to detect fast and slow tectonic motions in and around the Marmara Sea at temporal and spatial scale from milliseconds to years and from centimeters to tens of kilometers.

The data obtained during this study provides us to identify the slip deficit along the fault, the segmentation of fault, the interaction between slip-deficit and background seismicity. Besides, these data also contribute to identify the pre-seismic seismo-geodetic behavior and co-seismic slip when Mw=7.0 type of earthquakes occurs.