Along-Strike Variation of Rupture Characteristics and Aftershock Patterns of the 2023 Mw 7.8 Türkiye Earthquake Controlled by Fault Structure

Abstract

On 6 February 2023, an Mw 7.8 earthquake occurred along the East Anatolian fault zone (EAFZ) in southeastern Türkiye, representing the strongest earthquake in the region in nearly 80 yr. We investigate rupture characteristics and aftershock patterns of the earthquake through focal mechanism calculation, backprojection analysis, and finite-fault inversion. The results show bilateral rupture propagation of the mainshock with transient supershear speed in the southwest portion of the EAFZ, as well as shallower coseismic slip and abundant normal-faulting aftershocks in the same portion. We attribute these earthquake behaviors to the along-strike variation of fault structure of the EAFZ, which features a more complex fault geometry accompanied by numerous short normal faults in the southwest portion. These results shed light on fault segmentation, rupture speed variation, and slip partitioning along the EAFZ, advancing our understanding of fault structural control on earthquake behaviors in a complex multisegment fault system.