KOPETDAG

In 2014, seismic monitoring in the Kopetdag region was carried out by a network of 29 seismic stations (20 stationary and nine mobile stations) of the State Seismological Service of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan (SSS ANT), which in April became part of the newly formed Institute of Seismology and Atmo-spheric Physics, ANT. In total, 225 earthquakes with KP≥8.6 were recorded during the year, and focal mechanisms for 24 events were determined. Seismic process intensification continued around the town of Magtymguly. This began in April 2012 with earthquake swarm and continued in 2012–2014 with a series of earthquakes along the borders of the mobile blocks of the earth’s crust in the north of the Iranian plate, at the zone of its contact with Eurasia. On February 13 the strongest earthquake in Turkmenistan in 2014 with KP=12.8 occurred. It was located near the place of the April 2012 swarm. In June 2014 a seriesof more than of more than 2000 earthquakes with KP=4–10 was recorded 60 km east of this earthquake. This indicates a continued seismic activity and the possibility of strong earthquakes here. In the Kopetdag region as a whole, the seismic activity A10 and the seismic energy E released for 2014 reached the background level, after lowering of these parameters noted over the past several years compared to the average annual values for the period 1993–2013.