kraftiekortie wrote:
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/02/05/europe/earthquake-hits-turkey-intl-hnk/index.html
The damage is in southern Turkey, northern Syria, and other Middle Eastern areas nearby.
This area gets lots of earthquakes, unfortunately.
Yes. The Middleast is right where several tectonic plates meet. The whole Mediterranean is prone to volcanism and earthquakes. Has recorded them for thousands of years.
And thats on top of the instability of the human landscape of the same region. The Syrian Civil war generated refugees, and double refugees (folks who were already refugees from the war in Iraq), and now there will be a number of refugees from this natural disaster too.
Syria is literally pushing against Turkey. Syria and Iraq are part of the Arabian plate...which broke off from Africa and pushing against Eurasian plate at Iran and Turkey.
Since dinosaur times Africa has been slowly coming apart at the great Rift Valley (which extends from Kenya, and Tanzania, through Ethiopia. The Red Sea is part of the Rift Valley of Africa, and the Jordan Valley (including the Dead Sea, and the Sea of Galilee)is a little pinky finger extension at the top of the Great Rift Valley of Africa. In the days of the dinosaurs Italy broke off North Africa and rammed into the belly of Europe forcing up the Alps.