An Evaluation of the Earthquake Potential With Seismic and Tectonic Variables for the West Anatolian Region of Turkiye

Abstract

In the present study, an evaluation of the region-time-magnitude behaviours of the earthquake occurrences in the West Anatolian Region (WAR), Turkiye, is carried out using the statistical and seismotectonic parameters such as the b-value of Gutenberg-Richter relation, occurrence probabilities, and return periods of earthquakes. We also have mapped the Coulomb stress changes to observe the current and future earthquake hazard. In recent years, several large earthquakes such as the 1919 Soma (Mw = 6.7) and the 2022 and 2024 Aegean Sea (Mw = 5.3 and Mw = 5.1) revealed earthquake potential in the WAR. Coulomb stress analyses of 41 local events with mostly normal fault mechanisms have shown that positive lobes (> 0.0 in bars) are mainly confined in the crust and uppermost mantle depths around Samos, Kos, and south of Lesvos. The smaller b-values (< 1.0) are observed in the same regions. On the contrary, we have observed a higher b-value from the offshore to onshore, south to north-trending direction, and negative scattered stress lobes (< 0.0 in bars) in slightly NW-SE oriented. The relationship between an increased b-value and negative stress change may indicate a similar seismicity for the region. In addition, we have analyzed the occurrence probabilities and return periods of the earthquakes, which showed us that Mw = 6.0 may occur at 75% in the intermediate term with an estimation of similar to 7 years. Our results reflect that these types of multiple-parameter assessments are important to define regional seismicity, seismic, tectonic, and statistical behaviours. Consequently, the areas with reductions in b-values and increments in stress imply the possible seismic hazard in the intermediate/long term.