The landslide source of the eastern Mediterranean tsunami on 6 February 2023 following the Mw 7.8 Kahramanmaraş (Türkiye) inland earthquake
Abstract This paper presents the first example of how to systematically identify the submarine landslide source of a tsunami using an innovative hybrid approach. This ground-breaking method is developed to resolve the puzzle around the source mechanism of the mysterious tsunami observed on 6th Febru...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Geoscience Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40562-023-00304-8 |
| _version_ | 1797559263726403584 |
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| author | Mohammad Heidarzadeh Aditya Riadi Gusman Iyan E. Mulia |
| author_facet | Mohammad Heidarzadeh Aditya Riadi Gusman Iyan E. Mulia |
| author_sort | Mohammad Heidarzadeh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract This paper presents the first example of how to systematically identify the submarine landslide source of a tsunami using an innovative hybrid approach. This ground-breaking method is developed to resolve the puzzle around the source mechanism of the mysterious tsunami observed on 6th February 2023 in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. The tsunami followed the two inland Mw 7.8 and Mw 7.5 Türkiye–Syria earthquakes, which occurred consequently with a 9 h interval on this day. The first earthquake (Mw 7.8) had an epicentral distance of 90 km from the nearest coast, which is closer than the second one (Mw 7.5) to the coast and yet its crustal deformation was almost entirely limited to inland. Therefore, the co-seismic surface displacement generated by the earthquake was ruled out as the source of the tsunami, confirmed by numerical modelling. Here, we hypothesized that the tsunami was most likely generated by a submarine landslide triggered by the earthquake. Analysis of tide gauge observations revealed that the waves arrived from 27 min to 48 min after the first earthquake (Mw 7.8) at different coastal locations, implying that the potential submarine landslide was triggered by the first earthquake (Mw 7.8). Backward tsunami travel time mapping using tide gauge observations guided us to constrain the area of the potential landslide. We approximated the dimensions of the landslide using spectral analysis of the tsunami observations. Consequently, an iterative trial-and-error approach was employed to confirm the landslide source of the tsunami by defining various informed alternative landslide scenarios and applying numerical modeling. Modelling showed that a submarine landslide can reproduce the tsunami observations reasonably well. It is located on a steep slope of the seafloor approximately 50 km from Arsuz. The submarine landslide is estimated to have caused a seafloor deformation measuring approximately 16 km in length and 4.0 km in width. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:42:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8eefa95190684cbcbc43579b3efce6ae |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2196-4092 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:42:57Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geoscience Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-8eefa95190684cbcbc43579b3efce6ae2023-11-20T09:37:48ZengSpringerOpenGeoscience Letters2196-40922023-10-0110111610.1186/s40562-023-00304-8The landslide source of the eastern Mediterranean tsunami on 6 February 2023 following the Mw 7.8 Kahramanmaraş (Türkiye) inland earthquakeMohammad Heidarzadeh0Aditya Riadi Gusman1Iyan E. Mulia2Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, University of BathGNS SciencePrediction Science Laboratory, RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering ResearchAbstract This paper presents the first example of how to systematically identify the submarine landslide source of a tsunami using an innovative hybrid approach. This ground-breaking method is developed to resolve the puzzle around the source mechanism of the mysterious tsunami observed on 6th February 2023 in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. The tsunami followed the two inland Mw 7.8 and Mw 7.5 Türkiye–Syria earthquakes, which occurred consequently with a 9 h interval on this day. The first earthquake (Mw 7.8) had an epicentral distance of 90 km from the nearest coast, which is closer than the second one (Mw 7.5) to the coast and yet its crustal deformation was almost entirely limited to inland. Therefore, the co-seismic surface displacement generated by the earthquake was ruled out as the source of the tsunami, confirmed by numerical modelling. Here, we hypothesized that the tsunami was most likely generated by a submarine landslide triggered by the earthquake. Analysis of tide gauge observations revealed that the waves arrived from 27 min to 48 min after the first earthquake (Mw 7.8) at different coastal locations, implying that the potential submarine landslide was triggered by the first earthquake (Mw 7.8). Backward tsunami travel time mapping using tide gauge observations guided us to constrain the area of the potential landslide. We approximated the dimensions of the landslide using spectral analysis of the tsunami observations. Consequently, an iterative trial-and-error approach was employed to confirm the landslide source of the tsunami by defining various informed alternative landslide scenarios and applying numerical modeling. Modelling showed that a submarine landslide can reproduce the tsunami observations reasonably well. It is located on a steep slope of the seafloor approximately 50 km from Arsuz. The submarine landslide is estimated to have caused a seafloor deformation measuring approximately 16 km in length and 4.0 km in width.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40562-023-00304-8Mediterranean SeaTürkiyeKahramanmaraş earthquakeTsunamiLandslideNumerical modelling |
| spellingShingle | Mohammad Heidarzadeh Aditya Riadi Gusman Iyan E. Mulia The landslide source of the eastern Mediterranean tsunami on 6 February 2023 following the Mw 7.8 Kahramanmaraş (Türkiye) inland earthquake Geoscience Letters Mediterranean Sea Türkiye Kahramanmaraş earthquake Tsunami Landslide Numerical modelling |
| title | The landslide source of the eastern Mediterranean tsunami on 6 February 2023 following the Mw 7.8 Kahramanmaraş (Türkiye) inland earthquake |
| title_full | The landslide source of the eastern Mediterranean tsunami on 6 February 2023 following the Mw 7.8 Kahramanmaraş (Türkiye) inland earthquake |
| title_fullStr | The landslide source of the eastern Mediterranean tsunami on 6 February 2023 following the Mw 7.8 Kahramanmaraş (Türkiye) inland earthquake |
| title_full_unstemmed | The landslide source of the eastern Mediterranean tsunami on 6 February 2023 following the Mw 7.8 Kahramanmaraş (Türkiye) inland earthquake |
| title_short | The landslide source of the eastern Mediterranean tsunami on 6 February 2023 following the Mw 7.8 Kahramanmaraş (Türkiye) inland earthquake |
| title_sort | landslide source of the eastern mediterranean tsunami on 6 february 2023 following the mw 7 8 kahramanmaras turkiye inland earthquake |
| topic | Mediterranean Sea Türkiye Kahramanmaraş earthquake Tsunami Landslide Numerical modelling |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40562-023-00304-8 |
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