The Erzincan earthquake of 13 March 1992 in Eastern Turkey

Abstract

The 13 March 1992 Erzincan earthquake, M=6.8, occurred in the eastern half of the Erzincan basin. The largest aftershock took place near Pülümür on 15 March 1992. No clear surface breaks were observed, although teleseismic studies suggested that it was a strike‐slip earthquake striking parallel to the North Anatolian fault, with a focus of approximately 10±2 km depth, 30 km rupture length, 95 cm of slip, and a 1.16×1026 dyn.cm seismic moment. The aftershock distribution concentrated at an area of the intersection between the North Anatolian fault and the Ovacik fault. These results indicate that the previously suggested seismic gap along the North Anatolian fault, east of Erzincan, still remains unruptured.