A New Deep Earthquake Monitoring Station to Be Established in the TRNC

The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority of Turkey (AFAD) has announced plans to establish a deep earthquake monitoring station in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). This new station will enhance the accuracy of seismic activity monitoring in Northern Cyprus.

The station, developed with advanced, locally-produced software, will track seismic activity in the Eastern Mediterranean by detecting microearthquakes. The installation is scheduled for completion in 2025.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Orhan Tatar, AFAD’s Director General for Earthquake and Risk Reduction, reminded the public of the upcoming second anniversary of the February 6 earthquake, described as the "disaster of the century," which claimed over 53,000 lives.

Following the tragedy, extensive research initiatives were undertaken, including the “Paleoseismological Characteristics of Active Faults in Turkey” project.

Under this project, 485 active fault lines were prioritized for analysis, with 132 of them thoroughly studied by experts from TÜBİTAK (the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey), AFAD, the General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration (MTA), and 24 universities.

Turkey currently has Europe’s most extensive earthquake monitoring network, consisting of 1,187 stations. By 2025, the national seismic network is expected to expand to over 1,200 stations.

• "We are also sharing this expertise with our friendly and allied nations," Tatar explained. "In 2024, we established a major earthquake monitoring station in Shusha, Azerbaijan. Now, we are setting up another station in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus."

The new station will be installed in Erenköy and will be capable of detecting microearthquakes as small as magnitude 0.1. Equipped with sensors placed at depths of up to 100 meters, the station will significantly improve the precision of seismic monitoring in the Eastern Mediterranean. Once operational, the total number of AFAD monitoring stations in the TRNC will increase to 22.