Extensive off-fault damage around the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquake surface ruptures

Jihong Liu, Sigurjón Jónsson (), Xing Li, Wenqian Yao and Yann Klinger
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Jihong Liu: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
Sigurjón Jónsson: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
Xing Li: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
Wenqian Yao: CNRS
Yann Klinger: CNRS

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Quantifying coseismic fault offsets for surface ruptures of major earthquakes is important for earthquake cycle and slip-rate studies, and thus for earthquake hazard assessments. However, measurements of such offsets generally underestimate fault slip due to inelastic deformation and secondary fault offsets, i.e., off-fault damage. Here, we use satellite synthetic aperture radar images to quantify off-fault damage in the two 2023 Kahramanmaraş (Türkiye) magnitude 7.8 and 7.6 earthquakes. We first derive three-dimensional coseismic surface displacements and show that on average ~35% of the coseismic slip is accommodated by off-fault damage within 5–7 km of the coseismic surface ruptures. Fault sections exhibiting geometrical complexities (e.g., bends and step-overs) experienced a higher level of off-fault damage than simpler fault sections. Our results highlight the importance of extending off-fault damage assessments to several km away from fault ruptures and indicate that fault offset measurements may underestimate slip-rate estimations by as much as a third.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-56466-w

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