Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

GaudExMachina t1_j7qx8ut wrote

To piggyback, I checked around and seismologists suggest this was at a depth of 18 km below the surface. Not as deep as some, so more surface effects.

Also a horizontal strike slip, so lateral movement between the two plates, so there won't be much vertical component. 7.8 is a massive earthquake, but by no means as insanely powerful as some of the 9+ that have hit Chile within recorded history. I recall reading that one of those in the 1950s had an offset of 30 meters along its rupture zone (deep in the earth), but I'd need to go find a source on that.

For an exceptionally rough estimate, OP could try envisioning the ground suddenly shifting laterally 15 meters while they stood upon it, then scale that back by a factor of more than 10 as this one was considerably less powerful.

Devastating for a building that rises multiple stories, while having a narrow base and made out of inflexible materials. But for a person on the surface of the earth, it would knock them flat.

Edit: Good illustration posted in pics
https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/10wsr6n/anatolian_plate_moved_335_meters_after_the/

5