Quake off Gökçeada adds to country’s recent seismic activity

ÇANAKKALE

Türkiye was rattled once again on the morning of June 5 as a 4.6 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Gökçeada, located in the western province of Çanakkale, in the Aegean Sea at 8:18 a.m. local time, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD).

The tremor occurred at a depth of 12.61 kilometers. Prominent earthquake scientist Naci Görür stated that the quake struck along the northern branch of the North Anatolian Fault, the very segment where a major earthquake is expected in Istanbul, warning that it could affect the stress distribution on the fault line.

The quake comes after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Marmaris in the southwestern province of Muğla on June 3, which was followed by another 5.0 magnitude tremor in the Aegean Sea near Crete, Greece, hours later.

Earlier, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake had jolted Istanbul on April 23, intensifying growing concerns over a potential large-scale earthquake looming over the region. A cascade of aftershocks, numbering in the hundreds, followed.