Search for Tectonic Tremor on the Central North Anatolian Fault, Turkey

Abstract

Abstract Tectonic tremor has previously been observed along two major transform faults: the San Andreas fault (SAF) and the Alpine fault (AF); and we extend the search for tectonic tremor to another transform fault, the North Anatolian fault (NAF). We investigate a two‐year‐long temporary broadband seismic deployment on an ∼400 km long NAF segment in central Turkey. The central NAF network has stations within a few kilometers of the fault. Although the station spacing is larger than for the SAF and AF networks, we still expect to be able to observe coherent tremor at several stations, if it occurs in similar amounts as elsewhere. We search for tremor triggered by the surface waves of regional and teleseismic earthquakes but do not observe any tremor associated with the passage of surface waves. Next, we search for ambient tremor and observe occasional tremor‐like signals, but the signals are not coherent between stations. Thus, we cannot identify any unambiguous tremor episodes and suggest that if tremor occurs along the central NAF, it occurs at a lower amplitude and/or rate than along the SAF or AF.