Turkey on EARTH Magazine

Fats on Neolithic pottery pinpoint climate cooling event

Thu, 08 Nov 2018 12:39:20 -0500

Çatalhöyük, in what is now central Turkey, was once a thriving Neolithic settlement, home to as many as 10,000 people. Credit: Çatalhöyük Research Project.

About 8,200 years ago, right around the time that animals such as cows and sheep were first being domesticated in the Near East for meat and milk, the planet underwent a cooling event that lasted about 160 years. How this cold snap, known as the 8.2-kiloyear event, affected early farmers has long been a mystery, as archaeological evidence from the period of the cooler and drier climate has been scant. But new research investigating fatty residues preserved on scraps of pottery found at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Çatalhöyük in Turkey is offering some clues.

New research suggests Syrian refugees must be accounted for in seismic risk models

Tue, 13 Dec 2016 16:57:52 -0500

Millions of Syrian refugees have settled in southern Turkey in seismically active regions near the East Anatolian and Dead Sea fault zones. Credit: Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0

Much of Turkey — including densely populated areas like Istanbul — faces significant seismic risk. Should a powerful quake strike in one of these areas, hundreds to thousands of people would likely be killed. But the numbers of dead could be far higher than previously suggested. New estimates of earthquake fatalities in Turkey are 3 to 20 percent higher when Syrian refugees are included in seismic risk models, reported [Bradley Wilson](http://: https://news.uark.edu/articles/27386/nine-u-of-a-students-and-recent-alumni-receive-nsf-fellowships), a graduate student in the department of geosciences at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in San Francisco today.

Getting there and getting around Turkey

Wed, 01 Jun 2016 10:06:12 -0400

Private boats to visit the Sunken City are surprisingly affordable along the Turquoise Coast. Credit: Terri Cook and Lon Abbott.

Turkey has two major airports — Istanbul and Ankara — and many smaller regional ones. Istanbul Ataturk Airport offers nonstop flights on Turkish Airlines from several U.S. cities, including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles and San Francisco. To enter the country, Americans need a visa; these can be quickly obtained online.

Travels in Geology: Turkey's storied Turquoise Coast

Wed, 01 Jun 2016 09:43:39 -0400

The rugged Taurus Mountains meet the Mediterranean Sea along Turkey's Turquoise Coast. Credit: Terri Cook and Lon Abbott.

We visited Turkey in June 2015, prior to the heightening of the Syrian refugee crisis. At the time, there were few security concerns, but due to recent turmoil, the U.S. Department of State has issued a travel warning encouraging Americans to avoid visiting southeastern Turkey and warning of heightened threats from terrorist groups throughout the country. At press time, none of the areas covered in this article were within the State Department’s advised avoidance area. However, it’s best to frequently check the State Department website (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en.html) prior to your trip and sign up for their travel alerts in case additional warnings are posted.

Closing Istanbul's seismic gap

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

The North Anatolian Fault breaks into a complicated network of fault branches under the Marmara Sea, where it passes just 20 kilometers south of Istanbul, Turkey's largest city. Tobias Hergert

Since 1939, a progression of deadly earthquakes has been marching westward across Turkey’s North Anatolian Fault, stalking the mega-city Istanbul. Just over a decade ago, a magnitude-7.4 quake struck near Izmit, 100 kilometers east of Istanbul, killing 18,000 people. All signs point to Istanbul as the next likely target. But a new study suggests Turkey’s largest city may be struck by a series of moderate earthquakes, rather than one big event.

Hazardous Living: Collision forces behind devastating Turkey quake

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

The North Anatolian Fault breaks into a complicated network of fault branches under the Marmara Sea, where it passes just 20 kilometers south of Istanbul. The new quake did not occur on the North Anatolian Fault. Tobias Hergert

Megan Sever is managing editor of EARTH and writes the Hazardous Living blog. Jim Sever

By Tuesday evening local time, close to 500 people have been confirmed dead and more than 1,300 injured following a major magnitude-7.2 earthquake that struck eastern Turkey on Sunday at 1:41 p.m. local time. Countless people are still trapped under debris after the shallow quake, only 20 kilometers deep, leveled at least 2,260 buildings in Van, Ercis and other cities and villages, according to news reports. Now, freezing temperatures and the possibility of snow on Wednesday bring new dangers to trapped victims and the thousands of people who are displaced and living in cars, tents and outside. Meanwhile, aftershocks, some as large as magnitude 6.0, have continued to shake the region.

Temblor flattens Turkish towns

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

The magnitude-6.0 earthquake hit eastern Turkey on the East Anatolian Fault. U.S. Geological Survey

A magnitude-6.0 earthquake struck eastern Turkey at 4:32 a.m. local time Monday. The quake was centered in Elazig province about 625 kilometers east of Turkey’s capital, Ankara. The earthquake toppled buildings, flattened homes, injured at least 100 people and killed 57, according to the Associated Press.