Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences (Turkish J. Earth Sci.), Vol. 19, 2010, pp. 449–471. Copyright ©TÜBİTAK doi:10.3906/yer-0907-1 First published online 3 December 2009 Bala (Ankara) Earthquakes: Implications for Shallow Crustal Deformation in Central Anatolian Section of the Anatolian Platelet (Turkey) ONUR TAN1, M. CENGİZ TAPIRDAMAZ1, SEMİH ERGİNTAV1, SEDAT İNAN1, YILDIZ İRAVUL2, RUHİ SAATÇILAR3, BEKİR TÜZEL2, ADİL TARANCIOĞLU1, SALİH KARAKISA2, RECAİ F. KARTAL2, SAMİ ZÜNBÜL2, KENAN YANIK2, MEHMET KAPLAN2, FUAT ŞAROĞLU1, ALİ KOÇYİĞİT4, ERHAN ALTUNEL5 & NURCAN MERAL ÖZEL6 1 TÜBİTAK Marmara Research Center, Earth and Marine Sciences Institute, Gebze, TR−41470 Kocaeli, Turkey (E-mail:
[email protected]) 2 MRWS General Directorate of Disaster Affairs, Earthquake Research Department, Lodumlu, TR−06530 Ankara, Turkey 3 Sakarya University, Department of Geophysics, Esentepe Campus, TR−54187 Sakarya, Turkey 4 Middle East Technical University, Department of Geological Engineering, TR−06531 Ankara, Turkey 5 Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Department of Geological Engineering, Meşelik Campus, TR−26480 Eskişehir, Turkey 6 Boğaziçi University, Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, Çengelköy, TR−34684 İstanbul, Turkey Received 06 July 2009; revised typescript receipt 15 December 2009; accepted 03 December 2009 Abstract: Central Anatolia is quiet in terms of seismic activity, and rarely earthquakes up to magnitude 5.6 occur in the inner part of the Anatolian block or Anatolian platelet. Southeast of Ankara, the capital city of Turkey, two earthquake sequences with maximum magnitude of 5.6 occurred in 2005 and 2007. We discuss these shallow crustal deformation in the Anatolian platelet, in the light of seismological data from these earthquakes (ML= 5.6) and their aftershocks.