Special Issue on Active Tectonics of the Eastern Mediterranean Region: Case Studies on Earthquake, Volcano and Tsunami Induced Hazards

Introduction

The complexity of plate interactions and associated crustal deformation in the Eastern Mediterranean region is reflected by numerous destructive earthquakes that have occurred throughout its geological history (Taymaz et al., 2004; Ambraseys, 2009), including historically damaging earthquakes have occurred along the North and the East Anatolian, and the Dead Sea fault zones. In addition, the Aegean and surrounding regions provide examples of core-complex formation, synchronous basin evolution and subsequent graben formation, and continental extensional deformation following orogenic contraction (Taymaz et al., 2007; Ganas and Parsons, 2009). The Eastern Mediterranean region has been the subject of intensive research over the last few decades, many of which have been well documented and studied using multidisciplinary earth-science data and methods (e.g., seismological, geophysical, geological, and geodetic). Therefore, it is considered a perfect natural laboratory for studying the mechanics of crustal deformation and its relation to deep processes such as magmatism. This ERA Special Issue aims to explore current findings and ideas on the active tectonics and the geodynamics of the Eastern Mediterranean region. It will be essential reading for all geoscientists interested in the structural evolution of the region. We aim to match and to advance our understanding of earthquake physics, expand our ability to observe earthquake-related phenomena and improve our mitigation of seismic, volcanic and resulting tsunami hazards. It is timely to take action considering the recent intense seismic swarm that occurred between January and February 2025 in the Santorini-Kolumbo-Amorgos extensional basin in the Aegean Sea, as well as the devastating 6 February 2023 M > 7.8 earthquake doublet, which caused massive destruction and loss of life in southeast-central Türkiye and northwest Syria.

References

Ambraseys N. (2009). Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East: A Multidisciplinary Study of Seismicity up to 1900. Cambridge University Press, U.K. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139195430.

Ganas, A., and Parsons, T. (2009). Three-dimensional model of Hellenic Arc deformation and origin of the Cretan uplift, Journal of Geophysical Research – Solid Earth, 114(B6), B06404. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JB005599.

Taymaz, T., Westaway, R., and Reilinger, R. (2004) (Guest Editors). Active Faulting and Crustal Deformation in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, Special Issue of Tectonophysics, 391, Issues 1-4, 375 pages, 29 October 2004. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2004.07.005.

Taymaz, T., Yılmaz, Y., and Dilek, Y. (2007) (Guest Editors). The Geodynamics of the Aegean and Anatolia, Geological Society, London, Special Publications Book, 291, ISBN: 978-1-86239-239-7, December 2007, https://www.lyellcollection.org/toc/sp/291/1.

Aims and Objectives

ERA Special Issue aims to present the latest findings on the induced earthquake-volcano-tsunami generations covering multiple aspects of earthquakes including seismological, geodetic, geological and engineering perspectives. We invite submissions of original research articles on topics including but not limited to:

Topics of Interest

Topic-1: Tectonic environments and structures of seismogenic fault zones in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

Topic-2: Long- and short-term behaviour of active fault zones in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

Topic-3: Active faulting in recent and historically damaging earthquakes along the North and East Anatolian Fault zones in Türkiye.

Topic-4: Geological observations and analysis of the damaging earthquakes, including field mapping, geomorphological changes, interaction of faults, and fault zone analysis.

Topic-5: Seismological and geodetic observations and analysis of the earthquakes, including waveform modelling, source mechanism, incorporating InSAR and GNSS data, and ground motion characteristics and ground motion modelling.

Topic-6: Recent volcano-seismic activity in the Santorini-Kolumbo-Amorgos basin, and tsunamigenesis of the Aegean Sea.

Important Deadlines

Articles accepted to this ERA Special Issue will be reviewed as they are received and published online soon after acceptance as soon as they are ready prior to the print issue and collectively published in the February/ March 2026 issue. Early submission is encouraged. To be included in print version of this special issue, all papers must be received no later than:

• Deadline for Submission: March 31, 2026
• Publication Date: October 2026

Submission Instructions

In preparing manuscripts, authors must carefully follow the ERA author guidelines before submitting. All articles should be submitted via the ERA online submission system under the Special Issue category.

Guest Editors for this Special Issue

Prof.Dr. Tuncay TAYMAZ
İstanbul Technical University – İstanbul, Türkiye
taymaz@itu.edu.tr; ttaymaz@gmail.com

Prof.Dr. Aldo ZOLLO
University of Naples Federico II – Napoli, Campania, Italy
aldo.zollo@unina.it; aldo.zollo@gmail.com

Prof.Dr. Hongfeng YANG
The Chinese University of Hong Kong – China
hyang@cuhk.edu.hk

Prof.Dr. Teng WANG
Peking University, Beijing – China
wang.teng@pku.edu.cn

Prof.Dr. Andrea BILLI
National Research Council of Italy (CNR-IGAG) – Rome, Italy
andrea.billi@cnr.it

Prof.Dr. Daniele CHELONI
INGV - Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia – Rome, Italy
daniele.cheloni@ingv.it