# Comparative Analysis of Target Displacements in RC Buildings for 2023 Turkiye Earthquakes
## 2 Tectonic Structure of Turkiye and 2023 Kahramanmaras Earthquakes  
Turkiye's geographic location, along with the interaction of the Eurasian-African and Eurasian-Arabian plates, makes it susceptible to frequent earthquakes. Examining the tectonic system in which Turkiye is situated, it is evident that Eastern Anatolia is compressed by the Arabian Plate as it moves northward toward the Eurasian Plate. The North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) and the East Anatolian Fault Zone (EAFZ), which developed due to the resistance of the Eurasian Plate in the north, exert pressure on the Anatolian Plate. This results in the Anatolian Plate moving westward (Figure 1). The EAFZ, which is approximately 580 km in length, is one of the seismically active regions in Turkiye and has experienced numerous significant earthquakes. The southeastern boundary of the Anatolian Plate is formed by the left-lateral strike-slip EAFZ, which intersects the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) in Karlnova. Similarly, the DSFZ and EAFZ converge near Antakya. The simplified tectonic map of Turkiye is given in Figure 1.  
On the contrary, it stretches southwestward in seven distinct sections from Karlnova to the Gulf of iskenderun [70,71]. These strike-slip faults are the site of large, catastrophic earthquakes [72]. This area has experienced catastrophic earthquakes for about 2000 years, according to historical and instrumental records [73, 74, 75, 76]. Historical earthquakes originate at the northeastern edge of the EAFZ and move southwestward. The central and southwestern regions of the EAFZ have the highest concentration of historical earthquakes. Over the past 500 years, no earthquake strong enough to create a surface rupture has occurred in the Golbasi-Turkoglu stretch, where the fault bends toward the southwest. The M\({}_{\rm w}\) = 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes that struck Kahramanmaras on Monday, 6 February 2023, just nine hours apart, marked the beginning of a series of major earthquakes in a short period, including additional quakes with magnitudes of 6.6, 5.7, 6.0, and 6.4. Over 53,000 people were killed and more than 100,000 were injured in eleven provinces as a result of these earthquakes, leaving over 500,000 homes uninhabitable. The likelihood of distinct primary shocks is increased when considering the fault systems involved in these disasters and the fact that nearly all of the earthquakes occurred along separate fault segments. As the EAFZ runs through this region, the earthquakes are also seen as stemming from a single tectonic movement. Because of the region's intricate tectonic structure, earthquakes have evolved into interconnected phenomena. As a result, Turkiye, with its dense and complex tectonic members, has experienced many earthquakes to date and will likely continue to do so. The values measured for both earthquakes by various sources are shown in Table 1.  
The highest measured PGAs for the 2023 Kahramanmaras earthquakes, which were the worst disaster of the century for T\(\ddot{\text{u}}\)rkiye, are illustrated in Table 2. The earthquakes caused very high accelerations in some provinces of the region. In particular, provinces such as Kahramanmaras, Hatay, Adiyaman, and Gaziantep experienced significantly high accelerations. These accelerations resulted in destructive effects on most structures. Soil properties have been one of the factors directly affecting the magnitude of acceleration values. Accelerations were especially pronounced on soft soils, leading to soil liquefaction and increased damage in settlements. It was observed that structures before 2000 in particular have suffered more damage. The eleven provinces most affected by the Kahramanmaras earthquakes are illustrated on the map in Figure 2.  
The highest PGAs measured in eleven cities significantly affected by the earthquake are illustrated in Table 3.