A 5.2-magnitude earthquake in Arad on Tuesday was accompanied by 14 aftershocks by Wednesday evening and is linked to strong earthquakes recorded in Turkey, the National Earth Physics Research Institute said.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 occurred on Tuesday at 20:26:51 in Arad. It occurred at a depth of 5.6 kilometers, and the epicenter was located in the Peulish commune of Arad County. The epicentral macroseismic intensity was estimated at level VII on the Mercalli scale.

The earthquake strongly felt the population in the epicentral area, such as Peulish, Arad, Lipova, and even in more distant cities: Timisoara, Deva, Lupeni, Zalau, Cluj-Napoca, Salonta, Hunedoara, Oradea, as well as in Serbia. and Hungary.

Until now, 14 aftershocks of the earthquake have been recorded, of which 5 had a magnitude higher than 2, the largest aftershock was 3.2 with intensity III on the Mercalli scale, INFP representatives reported.

Connection of earthquakes in Arad with earthquakes in Turkey

The National Institute of Earth Physics Research and Development states that earthquakes in the Krishan area are related to earthquakes in Turkey and explains why:

• “The earthquakes that have occurred in this area have occurred at the contact between the Pannonian Basin and the Apuseni Mountains.
• This region is characterized by two systems of faults oriented NW-S and, respectively, SW-W, but locally also faults with EV orientation are identified.
• The source of these earthquakes is the movement of convergence and rotation of the Adriatic microplate, which exerts direct pressure on the folded chain of the Dinaric River, this pressure is further transmitted to the entire framework of lithospheric blocks in the Pannonian basin.
• This is due to the earthquakes in Turkey, which generated a chain of earthquakes, the direction of propagation of which starts from the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, where the subduction arc of the African plate with the East European subplate intersects with the East Anatolian fault, where they occurred. the recent devastating earthquakes in Kahramanmaras province.
• They move along the mentioned subduction plane. This pressure caused earthquakes in southern, central and northern Italy. The Adriatic microplate exerts pressure on the Dinaric mountain chain, which in turn transmits this pressure to the Pannonian basin.”

INFP officials also say they are still assessing whether the March earthquakes in the Tirgu Jiu area were also caused by events in Turkey. “However, we can confirm that these events did not affect the activity of the Vrancha seismic zone,” – add representatives of the National Institute of Earth Physics Research and Development.