Evidence for Historical Earthquake-Related Deformation in the Light of the Geological, Archaeoseismological and Archaeological Data at Ancient City of Myra, SW Anatolia

Most of the antique cities in Western and Southwestern Anatolia were established along the active fault zones. The Myra Ancient City, located in the region between the Fethiye-Burdur Fault Zone and the Pliny-Strabo trenches in southwest Anatolia, is situated on the NE-SW trending active normal faults. According to archeological evidence, Ancient City of Myra was affected by historical earthquakes. Analysis of the damaged relics indicates: (i) Nearly all relics of the Myra Ancient City show different degrees of earthquake related damage and these damages may be evidence for 141 A.D., 240 A.D., 344 A.D. earthquakes in the Holocene time interval; (ii) The nekropolis of Myra, amphitheatre and the port of Myra were ruptured as a systematically collapsed columns, collapsed walls, and by rotated and displaced blocks in the damage zone; (iii) NE-SW trending damage zone linked with Kale Fault and Kekova Fault and NW–SE-directed extension is mainly responsible for the recent faulting along the Kale Fault