Abstract
Abstract. Ekşi Sözlük is one of the most visited websites in Turkey. Registered users of the website share their knowledge about any topic. In this study, we collect the user entries on the topic of 20 earthquakes in Turkey and the surrounding area. Entries with city and district level information are converted to intensity values. Shake maps of the earthquakes are created by using a ground motion to intensity conversion equation. User entries and created shake maps are compared. It is found that entries correlate with the predicted intensities. It is also found that local soil conditions and building types have an amplifier effect on entries on the website. Several entries on the earthquake topics have magnitude estimations. The difference between predicted and observed intensities also varies with distance. Users are able to predict the magnitudes of the earthquakes with ±0.54 misfit. This study shows that Ekşi Sözlük has the potential to be a reliable source of macroseismic intensity for the earthquakes in Turkey if the felt reports are collected with a predetermined format.
Highlights
Many national seismic data providers (ARSO, 2020; British Geological Survey, 2020; Sbarra et al, 2010; Swiss Seismological Service, 2020; ZAMG, 2020), along with international organizations (European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre, EMSC; Bossu et al, 2017; United States Geological Survey, USGS; Wald et al, 2012) collect web-based macroseismic survey data
This study shows that Eksi Sözlük has the potential to be a reliable source of macroseismic intensity for the earthquakes in Turkey if the felt reports are collected with a predetermined format
The definition consists of extracting an empirical relationship between observed intensity and ground motion parameters, namely the peak ground velocity (PGV) and peak ground acceleration (PGA)
Summary
Many national seismic data providers (ARSO, 2020; British Geological Survey, 2020; Sbarra et al, 2010; Swiss Seismological Service, 2020; ZAMG, 2020), along with international organizations (European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre, EMSC; Bossu et al, 2017; United States Geological Survey, USGS; Wald et al, 2012) collect web-based macroseismic survey data. The answers are converted to macroseismic intensity scales, and felt maps are created as an end product of the earthquake. The data may be collected continuously, as in EMSC and USGS, and after a specific earthquake (Bossu et al, 2008, 2015; Goltz et al, 2020; Liang et al, 2017). In Turkey, the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency of Turkey (AFAD) is the only data collector for macroseismic intensity. Turkish data providers were the seventh largest data providers (third in Europe) to the EMSC in 2018
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