why such a deadly earthquake?

More than 2,800 buildings collapsed, and thousands of victims. On Monday February 6, Turkey and Syria experienced one of the worst earthquakes in their history, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake followed by violent aftershocks, of a power not seen in the region for 200 years. The epicenter is located almost on the border between the two countries, along the East Anatolian fault. A zone classified at risk, densely populated. According to the WHO, the earthquake may have affected 23 million people.

Turkey, a moving country

Turkey is a moving country, located on the Anatolian tectonic plate, a region gripped by the Eurasian plate to the north, and the Arabian plate to the south. A large part of the country is thus moving towards the West, about 2 cm per year. On Monday, in the face of pressure, the Anatolian plate gave way, slipping in places between 3 and 9 meters. This movement is reminiscent of the 1999 earthquake, which killed 17,000 people. The authorities have since undertaken work to consolidate certain buildings. But if seismic standards are tightening, all homes are far from being protected.