The correlation of b-value in the earthquake frequency-magnitude distribution, heat flow and gravity data in the Sivas Basin, central eastern Turkey

Abstract

In this study, the seismicity in the Sivas Basin, central eastern Turkey from 1903 to 2018 is investigated by the Gutenberg and Richter relationship (1944) and the maximum likelihood method (Aki, 1965) to explore the b-value. The b-value is regarded as one of the important parameters representing the nature of the occurrence of earthquakes. Particularly, the b-value characterizes the state of stress in the crust. The Sivas Basin exhibits the low b-value (0.52 and 0.9), moderate/high heat flow values (70-80 mWm2 ), large negative anomalies owing to sedimentary basin and low seismicity and the epicenter distributions of earthquakes are located at the upper crust and along the Deliler-Tecer and Yukari Kizilirmak Fault Zones in the study region.