Two strike–slip faults, displacements along which caused the catastrophic earthquakes in Turkey on February 6, 2023, were mapped from satellite radar interferometry data. According to the satellite data, the relative displacements of the sides of the East Anatolian Fault Zone (EAFZ), with which the first event of Mw 7.8 was associated, exceeded 5 m in the central segment. The rupture surface extends from the area of the Doğanyol-Sivris earthquake Mw 6.7 of January 24, 2020, in the north to the Mediterranean coast in the south, where the earthquake Mw 6.3 occurred on February 20, 2023. The second event Mw 7.5 is associated with the Surgü-Çardak fault; the relative displacements of its sides, according to satellite data, exceeded 7 m. The obtained displacement fields of the Earth’s surface were used to construct a model of the seismic rupture. This model was worked out on the basis of the Pollitz, 1996 solution, which defines displacements on the surface of the spherically stratified planet as a result of along dip and strike displacements on a rectangular rupture located inside the sphere. Ignoring the spherical stratification of the planet leads to errors of up to 20%, especially in the presence of a large strike–slip component [5]. Ignoring sphericity also causes an error, when using the solution obtained for an elastic homogeneous half-space, as the US Geological Survey (USGS) has done, in modeling the seismic rupture for earthquakes in Turkey in 2023. Our model differs in the detailed consideration of the fault geometry. For this purpose, the faults were approximated by 19 planes along the strike, divided into two levels along the dip. In our rupture model strike–slip displacements in the central segment of the EAFZ reached 12.7 m. In the southern segment of this rupture, the displacements are much smaller. It should be emphasized that we registered the displacements for the period from January 29, 2023, to February 10, 2023; therefore, together with co-seismic ones, they also include post-seismic displacements for four days after the main seismic events. The displacements on the rupture surface along the Surgü-Çardak Fault, where the Mw 7.5 earthquake occurred, were up to 10 m. The results demonstrate, in particular, the efficiency of application of the satellite radar interferometry in the operative study of catastrophic geodynamic phenomena and processes.
<p>During the Tolbachik fissure eruption which took place from November 27, 2012 to September 15, 2013 a lava flow of area about 45.8 km<sup>2</sup> and total lava volume ~0.6 km<sup>3</sup> was formed. We applied method of persistent scatterers to the satellite Sentinel-1A SAR images and estimated the rates of displacement of the lava field surface for 2017&#8211;2019. The surface mainly subsides along the satellite&#8217;s line-of-sight, with the exception of the periphery of the Toludski and Leningradski lava flows, where small uplifts are observed. Assuming that the displacements occur mainly along the vertical, the maximum average displacement rates for the snowless period of 2017&#8211;2019 were 285, 249, and 261 mm/year, respectively. On the Leningradski and Toludski lava flows the maximum subsidence was registered in areas with the maximum lava thickness.</p><p>To estimate the thermal subsidence of the lava surface we constructed a thermal model of lava cooling. It provides subsidence rate which are generally close to the real one over a significant part of the lava field, but in a number of areas of its central part, the real subsidence values are much higher than the thermal estimates. According to the thermal model when lava thickness exceeds 40 meters, even 5 years after eruption under the solidified surface there can be a hot, ductile layer, which temperature exceeds 2/3 of the melting one. Since on the Leningradski flow, the maximum subsidence is observed in the area of the fissure along which the eruption took place, one could assume that the retreat of lava down the fissure could contribute to the observed displacements of the flow surface. Subsidence can also be associated with compaction of rocks under the weight of the overlying strata. Migration of non-solidified lava under the solidified cover, also can contribute to the observed distribution of displacements - subsidence of the surface of the lava field in the upper part of the slope and a slight uplift at its periphery.</p><p>The work was supported partly by the mega-grant program of the Russian Federation Ministry of Science and Education under the project no. 14.W03.31.0033 and partly by the Interdisciplinary Scientific and Educational School of Moscow University &#171;Fundamental and Applied Space Research&#187;.</p>
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