Supershear triggering and cascading fault ruptures of the 2023 Kahramanmaraş, Türkiye, earthquake doublet

Abstract

On 6 February 2023, two large earthquakes (moment magnitude 7.8 and 7.6) shocked a vast area of southeastern Türkiye and northern Syria, leading to heavy casualties and economic loss. To investigate the rupture process over multiple fault segments, we performed a comprehensive analysis of local seismic and geodetic data and determined supershear ruptures on the initial branch and the Pazarcık and Erkenek segments and subshear ruptures on the Amanos segment of event 1. The bilateral rupture of event 2 also presents distinct sub- and supershear velocities. The dynamic stress of the branch fault rupture triggered the Pazarcık segment initial rupture at a point 9 kilometers west of the junction of these two faults, boosting the supershear rupture of the Pazarcık segment of the main fault. The geometry and prestress level of multiple segments controlled the rupture behaviors and influenced the ground shaking intensity.