LONDON — Scientists, meanwhile, said that the earthquake has occurred around a region of instability called the East Anatolian fault, which runs southwest to northwest of the southeastern border of Turkey.

Seismologists have long recognized that this fault is very dangerous, though there has not been any significant activity for more than 100 years, but it has been responsible for very damaging earthquakes in the past.

In particular, on Aug. 13, 1882, when it caused an earthquake registering 7.4 in magnitude, significantly less than the 7.8 magnitude recorded today.

Even so, that 19th century earthquake resulted in immense damage to towns in the area, with 7,000 deaths recorded on the city of Aleppo. Damaging aftershocks continued for nearly a year.

The Anatolian plate is divided into three major fault zones: North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ); East Anatolian Fault Zone (EAFZ) and South Eastern Anatolian Thrust Zone (SAT)

The North Anatolian Fault is similar to the San Andreas fault of California. The Feb. 6 earthquake and the aftershocks occurred along or in the vicinity of the EAFZ, the USGS wrote on its website.

Earthquakes occur along faults, which are fractures between blocks of rock, allowing them to move relative to one another.

In some places along the East Anatolian Fault, the Anatolian Plate slid past the Arabian plate with a slip of up to three meters, MyRadar Weather, a weather application website, tweeted.

Further, most destructive earthquakes have struck NAF in the past. “It hosted seven magnitude 7-7.8 earthquakes in the past century. The EAF had nothing larger than magnitude 6.8 until today,” Edwin Nissen, professor at the University of Victoria, wrote on Twitter.

Since 1970, only three earthquakes of magnitude 6 or larger have occurred within 250 kilometers of the Feb. 6 earthquake.

Nissen, however, added that historical records paint a different picture. EAF witnessed many large earthquakes during the last two centuries. They occurred in 1866, 1874, 1893 and 1971, the 2021 study noted.

The 1114 AD earthquake destroyed the city of Marash, Turkey. “So, it shouldn’t come as a total surprise,” Nissen added.

Further, there is only lesser than a 6 per cent chance of a bigger quake following the 7.8 event, according to MyRadar Weather.

So far, some 15 million people have experienced “strong,” “very strong” or “severe” shaking as measured on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale, Matthew Cappucci, Meteorologist at MyRadarWX, wrote on Twitter.

The Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale describes the effects of an earthquake on human beings, natural structures and industrial installations in a given region.

The scale is designated in roman numerals. According to the USGS, the earthquake’s intensity was XI, which means violent. — Agencies