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New geologic paleoseismological observations along the Acipayam–Serinhisar fault zone, SW Anatolia

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Abstract

An earthquake of M = 5.6 occurred on the March 20, 2019, in Acipayam, Denizli, located in a seismically active area at the southwest Anatolian fault system, in Türkiye. It caused extensive damages of infrastructures. The relevant fault (Acipayam–Serinhisar fault zone) has not shown on the active fault map of Türkiye, and it has been discovered first time by this study. The earthquake occurred on the Acipayam segment of this fault zone, which is divided into two separate segments. Three trenches were excavated for paleoseismological studies on this segment. The samples collected from the trenches were dated by radiocarbon method. The obtained data proposed three seismic events, which caused a surface rupture, at BC 235–95, AD 1227–1263 and AD 1471–1738. Considering the last two events, this fault segment produced two earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 and 6.5, 350 years apart.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by Pamukkale University BAP (Grant Number 2020FEBE014). The authors also thank to Turhan Dogan of TUBITAK MAM for 14C dating and Dr. Hulusi Sevkan, Mayor of Acipayam, for trench excavations.

Funding

This work was supported by Pamukkale University BAP (Grant Number 2020FEBE014).

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All authors contributed to study conception and design. Field working and data collection were performed by Mete Hancer and Nebil Kenanoglu. The draft of the manuscript was written by Mete Hancer and Erdal Akyol and all authors commented on previous version of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final version of it.

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Correspondence to Mete Hancer.

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Hancer, M., Kenanoglu, N. & Akyol, E. New geologic paleoseismological observations along the Acipayam–Serinhisar fault zone, SW Anatolia. Nat Hazards 116, 2245–2268 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-022-05762-5

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