The 2022 MW 6.0 Gölyaka–Düzce earthquake: an example of a medium-sized earthquake in a fault zone early in its seismic cycle

Abstract

Abstract. On 23 November 2022, a MW 6.0 earthquake occurred in the direct vicinity of the MW 7.1 Düzce earthquake that ruptured a portion of the North Anatolian Fault in 1999. The Mw 6.0 event was attributed to a small portion of the Karadere fault off the main North Anatolian Fault that did not rupture during the 1999 sequence. We analyze the spatiotemporal evolution of the MW 6.0 Gölyaka–Düzce seismic sequence at various scales and resolve the source properties of the mainshock. Modeling the decade-long evolution of the background seismicity of the Karadere fault employing an Epistemic Type Aftershock Sequence model shows that this fault was almost seismically inactive before 1999, while a progressive increase in seismic activity is observed from 2000 onwards. A newly generated high-resolution seismicity catalog from 1 month before the mainshock until 6 d after was created using artificial-intelligence-aided techniques and shows only a few events occurring within the rupture area within the previous month, no spatiotemporal localization process and a lack of immediate foreshocks preceding the rupture. The aftershock hypocenter distribution suggests the activation of both the Karadere fault, which ruptured in this earthquake, and the Düzce fault that ruptured in 1999. First results on the source parameters and the duration of the first P-wave pulse from the mainshock suggest that the mainshock propagated eastwards, which is in agreement with predictions from a bimaterial interface model. The MW 6.0 Gölyaka–Düzce event represents a good example of an earthquake rupture with damaging potential within a fault zone that is in a relatively early stage of the seismic cycle.