Study of the structural evolution of the Babadag-Honaz and Pamukkale fault zones and the related earthquake risk potential of the Buldan region in SW Anatolia, east of the Mediterranean

Abstract

Denizli graben (DG) is bounded in the NE by the Pamukkale fault zone and in the SW by the Babadag-Honaz fault zone. The Babadag and Honaz fault zones are generally made up as nearly E-W directed two segments. The Pamukkale fault also contains many overlapping segments in the Denizli area along the NE margin of the graben. The DG contains an NW-SE trending horst (Karakova) controlled by normal faults with oppositely dipping high angles and that truncate the Plio-Quaternary rock units. The faults that bound the DG are likely to have been initiated during the Early to Late Miocene and appear to be active today. The faults of the DG are active and the potential energy that accumulates in them is easily conducted to the other faults that they come in contact with. This signifies that a movement in one of the faults forming the grabens in the Denizli region affects the other structures as well. Earthquakes in the Buldan region usually occur 2-3 years after seismical movements occur in the Denizli Basin. The Buldan region is a ridge between DG and Alaşehir graben (ALG). Based on the fact that DG in its south and ALG in its north move seismically, there is a probability that a break would appear in the Buldan region in the near future. © 2013 China University of Geosciences and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.