AMMAN — Jordanian
geology expert Ahmed Malabeh said that the dams Turkey built at the cost of
Iraq and Syria had a potential geological impact on the earthquakes that took
place in Syria and
Turkey last week, Ammon News reported.
اضافة اعلان
In a statement to the Russian Sputnik News
Agency, Malabeh said that the Turkish dams, while they may not have been the direct
cause, contributed to the devastating quake.
‘Significant
impact’ on earth’s rotationAccording Malabeh,
the
dams have reached their maximum capacity and have become some of the largest
dams in the world, with a strategic reserve of over 651 billion cubic meters.
“This (amount of water) can affect the earth's crust and even the earth as a
whole,” he said.
This amount of
water, he added, “is equivalent to 10 times the water stored in the Grand Ethiopian
Renaissance Dam.”
Given the large quantity, “this
water can have a significant impact on the earth’s movement — even
if just for a second, the earth’s rotation is delayed due to the water’s weight”
he said.
“If the water
were distributed in other areas, the situation would be easier than it is now,”
he added.
Given the large quantity, "this water can have a significant impact on the earth’s movement — even if just for a second"
The expert also
stated that water seeps through cracks and gaps in the earth and reaches the
underground pools, which are naturally saturated with water. “If the water increases, it will lead to the
expansion of the pools and increase the amount of stored water.”
“This, in turn,
will cause the expansion or widening of the existing cracks and faults in the
underground pools, leading to instability and collapse, which has actually
happened,” he said.
Increased
strengthWhile the
country's dams may have increased the strength of the earthquake, they did not
cause it, said Malabeh. "The main cause was the tectonic point and the
movement of plates, especially the Arabian plate towards the Eurasian plate or
lesser Anatolian plate," he said.
If there is
movement in these underground faults, he added, “it is due to the presence of
water that descends into these basins, which increases the area of the fault
surfaces and thus leads to the movement of the same tectonic movement that
occurs due to the plates”.
While the country's dams may have increased the strength of the earthquake, they did not cause it
In recent years,
Turkey has faced criticism and accusations for frequently cutting off the
waters of the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers and building several dams on the rivers,
affecting the water quotas that reach both Syria and Iraq.
Experts have
previously stated that this is a violation of bilateral agreements and a result
of a lack of international monitoring.
Previous
warningsA
Syrian researcher, Mohammed Raqiya, has previously warned about the potential dangers
posed by the large number of dams in Turkey, in an article recently published.
According to
Raqiya, there are currently 579 dams in Turkey, built for a variety of purposes
including water supply, irrigation, energy generation, and water control. Most
of these dams were constructed as earthen types of dams.
Of the 579 dams
in Turkey, 22 were built as part of the Southeast Anatolia Project on the
Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Fourteen of these dams are located on the Euphrates
River, with the largest being the Atatürk Dam, and the remaining eight are on
the Tigris river, with the largest being the Ilisu Dam.
Turkey is one of
the most earthquake-prone countries in the world and the Turkish dams in
Anatolia are situated in seismically active areas, says Raqiya.
If a Turkish dam or several large dams were to collapse, it would result in widespread damage in eastern Syria and western Iraq
The creation of a
large number of artificial lakes behind the dams will generate additional
seismic activity, as the earth's crust will be loaded beyond its carrying capacity,
he warned. This will trigger weak points and faults in the region, particularly
in the Anatolia region, which could lead to strong earthquakes with regional
impact, he added.
In his article,
Raqiya sounded the alarm, saying that if a Turkish dam or several large dams were to
collapse, it would result in widespread damage in eastern Syria and western
Iraq, and the "flood wall", as experts call it, would reach the Arab
Gulf, carrying cities along with it.
Last Monday, a 7.7-magnitude
earthquake struck southern Turkey and northern Syria, causing widespread
destruction, death, and injury. Aftershocks from the earthquake were felt in
neighboring countries including Lebanon, Iraq, and Egypt.
Rescue work is
still ongoing to search for survivors under the rubble.
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