Earthquake stronger than magnitude 7 to hit Turkey’s Marmara region in near future: Observatory head

ISTANBUL

An earthquake with a magnitude stronger than 7 will hit Turkey’s Marmara region in the near future, Boğaziçi University’s Kandilli Observatory head Haluk Özener stated on Aug. 17.“With today’s technology we can detect possible magnitudes and possible locations of future earthquakes but we cannot know their specific dates,” Özener said at a press conference marking the 18th anniversary of a deadly earthquake in which around 18,000 people were killed within seconds in northwestern Turkey.“All scientists accept that there will be an earthquake with a magnitude stronger than 7 around the Marmara region but we cannot give a date for it. It may be a one-piece fracture or a two or three-piece fracture, but it does not change the fact that there will be an earthquake in the Marmara,” he added.Özener also said they are aiming to raise awareness in the public about possible earthquakes.“Rather than frighten people about earthquakes and causing them to panic, we aim to raise their awareness and speed up the actions of decision-makers,” he added.“There is an earthquake hazard and there is a fault-line in Marmara. There have been many earthquakes so far and there will be more. The only thing that can be done is to reduce earthquake damage,” Özener said.He also warned that there are even some predictions about possible tsunami waves in the Marmara Sea.“There are tsunami scenarios in the Marmara Sea that have been obtained by studies. There are predictions about tsunami hazards. It may be possible to see tsunami waves at heights of up to 2.25 meters in some areas. We expect that a Marmara tsunami could be formed in the sea surface after landslides,” Özener added.