Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
17 th INTERNATIONAL MARDIN ARTUKLU SCIENTIFIC RESEARCHES CONFERENCE, Mardin, Türkiye, 1 - 03 Haziran 2026, ss.398-405, (Tam Metin Bildiri)
The
Black Sea is relatively quiescent in terms of tectonics and earthquake
occurrences, and it does not produce strong and destructive earthquakes like
the North Anatolian Fault Zone located to its south. It encompasses important
tectonic structures such as the Eastern Black Sea Basin, the Central Black Sea
Ridge, and the Western Black Sea Basin. It is also a sea that surrounded by
structures like the Moesian Platform, the Pontide Orogenic Belt, and the
Caucasus Thrust Zone. Although it has a low level of earthquake hazard
according to the Turkish Earthquake Hazard Map (DD-1), the existing of both
strike-slip faulting mechanisms and oblique normal or reverse faulting
mechanisms indicates a complex tectonic setting in the region. Furthermore, the
occurrence of earthquakes with magnitudes ranging from 3.0 to 5.5 along the
Eastern Black Sea continental shelf after 2010 highlights the necessity of
evaluating the earthquake potential and the current earthquake hazard in the
Eastern Black Sea Basin and its surroundings. For this purpose, Coulomb stress
changes were calculated using recent earthquakes in the region together with
the b-value, which is a fundamental parameter of earthquake statistics.
For the b-value analysis, a total of 20,462 earthquakes with moment
magnitudes ranging from 0.8≤Mw≤7.2, covering a period of approximately
120.19 years between October 21, 1905 and December 31, 2025, within the
coordinates 40°N-44°N and 34°E-43°E, were used. In addition, focal mechanism
solutions of 10 earthquakes (Mw≥3.2) that occurred between 2012 and 2024
were considered for the stress analysis. According to obtained results, the b-value
changes between 0.60 and 1.43. Low b-values (<0.9) were observed in
the Sinop Trench, Arkhangelsky Ridge, Andrusov Ridge, Eastern Black Sea Basin,
Shatsky Ridge, Tuapse Trench, Rioni Ridge, the Greater Caucasus, the Central
Pontides, as well as around Samsun, and along the Ordu, Trabzon, and Rize
faults. Positive stress values indicate high-stress accumulation zones and were
observed in the Rioni Ridge, the southeastern end of the Shatsky Ridge, the
Rize and Trabzon faults, as well as around the Sinop Trench and Samsun.
Therefore, regions characterized by low b-values and high stress levels
can be considered as the most likely locations for the occurrence of strong or
large earthquakes. Consequently, these types of seismotectonic analyses may be
crucial in terms of revealing the current and future earthquake hazards, and
particular attention should be directed toward these anomalous regions in
assessing earthquake potential.