ROME, Feb 9 – The energy released by twin earthquakes that hit the 10 southern provinces of Türkiye was 130 times stronger than the one that occurred in Italy in 2016, a prominent Italian scientist said.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Carlo Doglioni, head of the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), reiterated that the Anatolian plate might have moved around 3 meters as a result of the first earthquake.
However, he said, the second earthquake that occurred on Monday at noon, should have moved the plate further.
“There has been an energy accumulation that has been going on for decades where the earthquake happened. It couldn’t hold the energy any longer while the Anatolian plate continued to move in the southwest direction. Consequently, the accumulated energy was released,” Doglioni explained.
We will know the certain figure once we have the satellite data, he added.
When asked whether a new earthquake in the same region is possible, he said this likelihood should not be overlooked as “nature can always surprise us.”
The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes, centered in the Kahramanmaras province, were felt by 13 million people across 10 provinces, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.
At least 14,014 people were killed and 62,937 others were injured by two strong earthquakes which jolted southern Türkiye on Monday while in neighbouring Syria, death toll from the tragedy had reached over 3,150 people.
