Aykut Barka (December 16, 1951, Fatih,

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

– February 1, 2002) was a Turkish

earth scientist Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres, ...

specialized in

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

research. He is best known for his contributions to understanding the behaviour of the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ), one of the most dangerous active faults in the world.

Biography

Barka was born in Fatih district of

in 1951 and received his PhD degree in 1981 from the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

, UK under the supervision of Dr. P.L. Hancock with a thesis on "''Seismotectonic Aspects of the North Anatolian Fault Zone''". He worked and studied geosciences in some top rated institutions around the world, including

Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris The Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris - Université de Paris (IPGP, University of Paris; French for "Paris Institute of Earth Physics") is a French governmental, non-profit research and higher education establishment located in Paris, dedica ...

École Normale Supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, S ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

's Earth Resources Laboratory,

Cambridge, MA Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

, University of Bristol, UK and Geological Survey of Japan. In 1997, Barka published a paper with Ross Stein and James H. Dieterich of

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

, titled ''"Progressive failure on the

North Anatolian Fault The North Anatolian Fault (NAF) ( tr, Kuzey Anadolu Fay Hattı) is an active right-lateral strike-slip fault in northern Anatolia, and is the transform boundary between the Eurasian Plate and the Anatolian Plate. The fault extends westward fro ...

since 1939 by earthquake stress triggering"'', which showed the migration of large earthquakes and, not surprisingly, positive stress accumulation in the

Marmara Region The Marmara Region ( Turkish: ''Marmara Bölgesi'') is a geographical region of Turkey. Located in northwestern Turkey, it is bordered by Greece and the Aegean Sea to the west, Bulgaria and the Black Sea to the north, the Black Sea Region to th ...

. Only two years after this paper was published, the M7.4 1999 İzmit earthquake hit the

, killing more than 17,000 people. Aykut Barka died on February 1, 2002 from injuries suffered in a car accident five weeks earlier. He left a wife and two young children.

Bibliography

References

* Who is Who – ''Biographies :'
''Prof. Dr. Aykut Barka''

External links

Barka's personal home page
1951 births 2002 deaths People from Fatih Turkish non-fiction writers Turkish geologists Istanbul University alumni Academic staff of Istanbul Technical University Road incident deaths in Turkey 20th-century geologists 20th-century non-fiction writers {{Turkey-scientist-stub