Turkey, Syria have endured share of deadly earthquakes

Turkey and Syria were struggling to recover Wednesday after a devastating series of earthquakes near the border of the two countries. Because so many geological plates come together in that area, Turkey and Syria often see devastating quakes compared with more geologically stable areas. Here’s what to know:

What caused the quakes? The Anatolian fault system:

The border between Turkey and Syria lies near the Anatolian fault system, where several geologic plates interact: the African, Anatolian (where Turkey sits), Arabian and Eurasian.

Plates moving in different directions, different speeds:

Turkey sits atop the small Anatolian tectonic plate, which itself sits between several other plates that are moving in different directions, putting pressure on the fault lines.

Conditions similar to the San Andreas fault in California:

That fault borders the Pacific and North American plates and is the source of “The Big One,” a legendary hypothetical earthquake that could devastate Los Angeles. Quakes in this areas are typically caused by faults moving horizontally, known as strike-slip faults.

How to visualize: It’s like squeezing a watermelon seed between your fingers – it stays in place until the pressure builds and the seed ultimately pops out, said Susan Hough, a California-based seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.

How long did it last?

The USGS said the magnitude 7.8 quake struck Monday at 4:17 a.m. local time in the southern Turkish province of Kahramanmaras. The USGS has calculated the initial quake’s duration at 60 to 75 seconds. Scores of aftershocks followed.

What other major quakes have hit that region?

2020: Turkey was struck by a magnitude 6.7 earthquake in January that caused significant damage.

1999: A series of earthquakes hit northwest Turkey. A 7.4 magnitude quake hit Istanbul, killing about 17,000 people.

1939: A magnitude 7.8 earthquake shook the Erzincan area, and in some areas the ground slipped more than 12 feet horizontally along the North Anatolian fault line. That quake killed more than 30,000 people.

Could an earthquake like this hit the United States?

Experts generally agree the most significant earthquake risk to the United States is in California, where the Pacific and North American plates meet. The region generally has more earthquake risk than Turkey and Syria, but some of that is mitigated by tough building codes.

“Building collapse isn’t as big a danger in California . ... For many people here, a bigger danger is stuff falling,” David Oglesby, a geophysics professor at the University of California, Riverside, said via email.

“Most of our buildings, particularly certain critical ones, are designed to withstand significant shaking.”

Contributing: Wyatte Grantham-Philips, John Bacon and Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY; The Associated Press