NASA Maps How Severe Earthquakes Hit Southern Turkey

Two severe earthquakes that happened a few hours apart caused thousands of casualties and injuries in Turkey. The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes affected 10 cities in the country, resulting in the collapse of buildings. NASA revealed the earthquake damage in the country’s southern region.

Data collected from the Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 also known as ALOS-2 indicates the extent of the catastrophe in Turkey’s Kahramanmaras and its district Turkoglu as well as Gaziantep’s Nurdagi. The harrowing quakes also struck western Syria.

Earthquake damage in satellite images of Turkey

“Dark red pixels represent areas likely to have severe damage to buildings, homes, and infrastructure or changes to the landscape, while orange and yellow areas are moderately or partially damaged,” explained NASA. Each pixel corresponds to about 30 meters across. To envision, it is about the size of a baseball field.

The earthquakes were very powerful that concluded in long series of fault segments, said NASA geophysicist Eric Fielding. “This generated extremely strong shaking over a very large area that hit many cities and towns full of people.”

Credit: NASA

He reminded another earthquake that took place years ago and paralyzed the United States, saying: “The rupture length and magnitude of the magnitude 7.8 earthquake was similar to the 1906 earthquake that destroyed San Francisco.”

In addition to NASA, space technology companies Maxar Technologies and Airbus Space shared before-and-after images obtained from satellites showing the total devastation.

High-resolution images over quake-hit area

In Airbus Space’s high-resolution images over Osmaniye, the impact of one of the worst natural disasters in the world can clearly be seen. The images in question have been provided to the rescue teams and local authorities for relief efforts, according to the company.

Meanwhile, NASA announced that they were monitoring the possible consequences of the earthquakes, such as landslide risks, power outages, and the weather in Turkey where harsh winter conditions have recently been faced.