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Sea level changes can trigger earthquake sequences in a hydrothermal system near Istanbul
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  • Patricia Martínez-Garzón,
  • Gregory C. Beroza,
  • Gian Maria Bocchini,
  • Marco Bohnhoff
Patricia Martínez-Garzón
Helmholtz Centre Potsdam GFZ German Research for Geosciences

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Gregory C. Beroza
Stanford University
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Gian Maria Bocchini
Faculty of Geosciences, Institute of Geology, Mineralogy, and Geophysics, Ruhr University Bochum
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Marco Bohnhoff
Helmholtz Centre Potsdam GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences
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Abstract

Small stress changes such as those from tidal loading can be enough to trigger earthquakes. If small and large earthquakes initiate similarly, high resolution catalogs with low detection thresholds are best suited to illuminate such processes. Below the Sea of Marmara section of the North Anatolian Fault, a segment of 150 km is late in its seismic cycle. We generated high-resolution seismicity catalogs for a hydrothermal region in the eastern Sea of Marmara employing both AI-based and template matching techniques to investigate a complex long-lasting sequence including seismicity up to MW 4.5. We document a strong effect of the Sea of Marmara level changes on the local seismicity. Both high resolution catalogs show that local seismicity rates are significantly larger during time periods shortly after local minima on sea level. Local strainmeters indicate that the associated strain changes, on the order of 30-300 nstrain, are sufficient to promote seismicity.