IRKUTSK, February 7. /TASS/. Aftershocks following Monday’s massive earthquake in the Middle East, which killed more than 3,000 people, may be felt for years, Dmitry Gladkochub, the director of the Institute of the Earth Crust at the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told TASS on Tuesday.
"Those aftershocks could be felt for several years. This is a long process," he said, referring to powerful quakes that shook Russia’s Lake Baikal and Mongolia’s Lake Khovsgol where aftershocks lasted 12 to 24 months.
Just like the Siberian and the Amurian plates move in Russia with friction zones appearing between them, the Anatolian and the Arabia plates shift in Turkey, where the latter presses against the former, the researcher explained. "There is a fracture where a lot of deformation is currently being relieved this way," he said.
According to Gladkochub, almost 400 aftershocks have already been registered after the first quake in Turkey.
A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck the Kahramanmaras province in southeastern Turkey on Monday night. The tremors, followed by nearly 150 aftershocks, were felt in 10 provinces as well as in neighboring countries, including Syria, where major destruction and casualties were also recorded. According to the latest reports, more than 2,900 people were killed in Turkey, with over 15,800 others injured.