The Aegean Sea has caused unrest in both Turkey and Greece with the second major earthquake in a week. The 22 magnitude earthquake that occurred off the coast of Crete at 2025:06.19 today (May 6, 17) was felt on the western coast of Türkiye, and especially caused concern in the islands and coastal cities close to Greece. The earthquake, which occurred XNUMX kilometers below the surface, was felt in Muğla, Denizli, İzmir, Aydın and Antalya.
Undersea Fracture and Future Earthquakes
The fact that the earthquake's epicenter was underwater made it difficult to measure the extent of the damage, raising critical questions: Could this tremor be a harbinger of larger earthquakes in the region? What is Greece's seismic vulnerability? And are common fault lines that could affect both countries on the brink of a new threat?
Earthquake experts and seismologists answered these questions for NTV. Kocaeli University Lecturer Professor Doctor Şerif Barış, commented on the latest earthquake. Barış emphasized that earthquake activity can increase and decrease from time to time and that this is a normal situation in terms of seismology, and said, “This is a temporary increase in activity, but it is actually a normal situation. In other words, this region is a place that constantly produces earthquakes of this magnitude and has the potential to produce a larger earthquake.”
Impact on Türkiye and Tsunami Risk
Barış, who stated that there was a similar magnitude earthquake in the Aegean on May 14, stated that these earthquakes will not affect Türkiye in a structural sense. Barış, who said, “Earthquakes that occur 190-200 kilometers away from the nearest region are not powerful enough to cause damage,” made an important warning, however: “However, if a large earthquake occurs, a 7,5 or 8 magnitude tsunami will affect the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts.” Barış also stated that in the event of a tsunami, certain warnings and precautions should be put into effect for the people living in coastal areas.
Will It Trigger Faults in Türkiye?
The Crete region is located on a plate called the Hellenic Arc that is subducting under Anatolia. Very large and frequent earthquakes occur here from time to time. Commenting on how earthquakes occurring here will affect Türkiye, Barış said, “It is a region we normally have no interest in. Since it was an earthquake on the sea borders of Greece, we don’t actually need to talk about these things. This earthquake is unlikely to affect faults in Türkiye or further afield."He used expressions.
Latest Situation in the Aegean and General Assessment
Emphasizing that this earthquake will not trigger any distant fault line, Barış said, “These earthquakes increase tension and similar magnitude aftershocks may occur in the same regions. There are dozens of faults that can produce earthquakes of this magnitude on the Aegean coast of Türkiye and most of them are in the sea. It is not very easy to measure the earthquake recurrence interval on faults in the sea.”
Barış, who stated that when commenting on the Aegean, it is not possible to make an assessment with simple expressions, emphasized once again that Türkiye is located on the world's most active tectonic belt and that every region has the potential to produce major earthquakes. These warnings from experts once again bring to the agenda both the seriousness of seismic activity in the region and the importance of being prepared for possible disaster scenarios.
