[1] We installed 5 broadband and 45 short-period temporary seismic stations, distributed partly as a dense, 100-km-long, N-S linear array and partly as a regional network, throughout the Menderes Massif of western Turkey in order to study crust-upper mantle structure and seismicity. In this study, we have combined teleseismic waveform data from these stations with data from several permanent seismic stations to determine crustal thickness variations in the Aegean region. Receiver function studies at seven broadband stations, using the H-k stacking method, have yielded crustal thicknesses and V p /V s ratios over a broad region of the Aegean. A more detailed crustal image was obtained in the central Menderes Massif, where we applied common conversion point stacking to receiver functions obtained from the N-S linear array. The results show a general trend of westward crustal thinning from 36 km in central Anatolia to 28-30 km in the central Menderes Massif to 25 km beneath the Aegean Sea. The results also indicate that crustal thinning in the Aegean is not uniform in the N-S extensional direction. The crust is thinner in the central Menderes Massif (28-30 km of crustal thicknesses) and the Cycladic Massif (25-26 km) than in surrounding regions where crustal thicknesses are 32-34 km. The longlived elevated Moho under the metamorphic core complexes suggests that the lower crust in the Aegean region is at least 3 times more viscous than that in the Basin and Range Province, where the Moho is much flatter.

S U M M A R YWestern Anatolia is one of the most seismically active continental regions in the world and much of it has been undergoing NS-directed extensional deformation since Early Miocene time. In a cooperative study, seismologists from Saint Louis University, USA and Dokuz Eylül University, Turkey, deployed five broad-band and 45 short-period seismic stations in western Anatolia between 2002 November and 2003 October. The present paper uses data collected by this network and the data from five permanent stations operated by the Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute to map the hypocentral distribution of local earthquakes and to determine crustal structure of western Anatolia. We obtained a 1-D P-wave crustal velocity model using a generalized scheme for simultaneously obtaining earthquake locations and a crustal velocity model. Our velocity model is characterized by crustal velocities that are significantly lower than average continental values. The low velocities may be associated with high crustal temperatures, a high degree of fracture, or the presence of fluids at high pore pressure in the crust. We located 725 local earthquakes and classified them in three categories. We found that the level of seismic activity in western Anatolia is higher than previously reported. Station delays resulting from the inversion process correlate with near-surface geology and the thickness of sediments throughout the region. The hypocentral distribution of the events indicates that peak seismicity for the region occurs at depths of about 10 km.

A review on the historical evolution of seismic hazard maps in Turkey is followed by summarizing the important aspects of the updated national probabilistic seismic hazard maps. Comparisons with the predecessor probabilistic seismic hazard maps as well as the implications on the national design codes conclude the paper.