Kinematics and Dynamics of the 24 January 2020 Mw 6.7 Elazig, Turkey Earthquake

Abstract We determine rupture kinematics of the 2020 Mw 6.7 Elazig, Turkey earthquake from joint inversion of interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) measurements, regional 1 Hz Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), strong motion, and teleseismic waveforms, and we also use dynamic modeling to assess the faulting properties to explain the observed kinematics. Our work shows that this event predominantly ruptured unilaterally toward the SW along the East Anatolian Fault Zone at a speed as slow as 2.0 km/s for ~20 s, and three main asperities are formed with a depth ranging from 20 km to the surface, but the surface rupture seems negligible. Besides, the dynamic model reveals an initial heterogeneous stress distribution with variations up to 30 MPa, which has been probably built up during the interseismic period. While this event does not seem to promote the failure of Pazarcık seismic gap, it remains elusive to evaluate the disturbed seismic potential between Elazig and Bingol regions.