GEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, vol.148, no.3, pp.649-662, 2002 (SCI-Expanded)
In this study we determine the Plio-Quaternary to present-day stress regime acting in the Hatay region located at the northeastern corner of the East Mediterranean region. The modern state of stress is obtained from inversion of focal mechanism solutions of shallow earthquakes. This inversion identifies a dominantly extensional stress regime with a NE-trending sigma(Hmin) (sigma(3) ) axis at the present-day. The stress regime determined from inversion of slip-vectors measured on fault planes confirms that this regime is extensional in the studied area. Both the kinematics and chronologies of fault slip-vectors show that the stress state changed from an earlier strike-slip regime to a younger extensional stress regime with a consistent NE-trending sigma(Hmin) (sigma(3)) axis. The change from strike-slip to extensional stress regimes probably occurred during the Quaternary. Regionally, both stress regimes induce sinistral displacement on the East Anatolian Fault and Dead Sea Fault systems.