Tectonism of Van Provinence

The earthquakes that occur in the Van earthquake region are tectonic earthquakes. The aim of this study is to determine the seismicity and associated risk of the Van earthquake region using statistical methods. The Van earthquake region covers the area between latitude 37.50°-40.00°N and longitude 41.00°-45.00°E (the analysis areas are defined and limited as rectangles using geographical coordinates to facilitate complex numerical analyses). The region between the Northeast Anatolian Fault and Karlıova-Muradiye is characterized by right-lateral strike-slip faults with short to long lengths in the NW-SE direction. This region consists of the 100 km-long Balıklıgölü Fault, 55 km-long Çaldıran Fault, 50 km-long Doğubeyazıt Fault, 50 km-long Tutak Fault, and 85 km-long Karayazı Fault (Gülkan et al., 1993). This belt was formed as a result of the closure of the southern branch of the Neotethys, located between the Arabian Plate and the Eurasian Plate, at the end of the Serravallian period (1993).