First assessment from Ahmet Ercan and Naci Görür after the earthquake in Balıkesir! 'It was normal at first, but...'

According to data from AFAD, a 4.9-magnitude earthquake occurred in the Sındırgı district of Balıkesir. The tremor was recorded at a depth of 7 kilometers.

The earthquake, which occurred at 00:05, was felt in surrounding provinces, particularly in Istanbul and Izmir. Balıkesir Governor İsmail Ustaoğlu reported that there were no negative incidents.

Following the earthquake, which caused short-term panic, eyes turned to expert figures. Prof. Dr. Ahmet Ercan and Prof. Dr. Naci Görür made statements regarding the earthquake on their social media accounts.

Ahmet Ercan stated the following regarding the earthquake:

“After the M6.1 Sındırgı earthquake, aftershocks continued, reaching up to M5.1. Today at 0:05, another M5.0 aftershock occurred at a depth of 7 km in Sinandede. It is clear that there is still unreleased tension here. Just like the Simav earthquakes, it seems that the release through aftershocks will take a long time.

However, as I have stated before, I do not expect an aftershock exceeding M6.1. Unfortunately, I saw that the people in Sındırgı, where I conducted an investigation, are still living in tents. 600 heavily damaged structures are awaiting demolition, and approximately 980 residences are uninhabitable. This is a shame for Turkey. The greatest destruction is in the wooded main road at the entrance to Sındırgı in Balıkesir, which is an old lake bed, and under the Bazaar. Get well soon, Sındırgı.”

Naci Görür’s assessment regarding the earthquake is as follows:

“Earthquakes are happening around Sındırgı. It was normal at first, but they drew attention because there were an excessive number of them. Most of the earthquakes are on the northern horst of the Gediz Graben. This area is intersected by numerous NE-SW grabens. They can also produce them. It is important to provide the faults and their planes for the earthquake.”