An overview of the current seismicity of the Sultandağı Fault Zone (Afyonkarahisar- Konya, Western Anatolia)

Abstract

Western Anatolia is one of the most seismically active regions in Turkey. The high seismic activity is a result of a complex tectonic deformation dominated by the N-S extensional tectonic regime in Western Anatolia. This tectonic deformation is also a result of the relative movement of the African- Arabian plates towards the north, which causes the Anatolian plate to shift 2.5 cm per year towards W-SW. One of the largest fault zones in the Western Anatolia, Sultandağı Fault Zone (SFZ) has a northwest-southeast trend. SFZ, approximately 120 km long, is an important tectonic structure, which produced three major earthquakes (Mw> 6.0) between the years of 2000 -2002. Therefore, the most significant goals of this study were to monitor the micro-earthquakes along SFZ, to enrich the current seismic network and to increase the earthquake detection threshold in the region (Mc <2.5). Within the scope of the study, 3 digital broadband earthquake stations were installed in the region. The analysis of the data obtained in the research indicated that the central and western parts of SFZ are active and there is intense seismic activity especially in the vicinity of Sultandağı, Çay, Çobanlar, and Afyonkarahisar. Fault plane solutions revealed that the earthquakes in the region generally occur with normal faulting with oblique components. Seismic stations installed within the scope of the study contributed positively to the increase of the sensitivity (Mc = 1.3) of the earthquake detection threshold (Mc) in the region and increased the detection capacity.

Keywords

• western anatolia
• sultandağı fault zone
• micro-earthquake
• seismic network
• digital broadband earthquake stations