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Turkish seismologist Professor Osman Bektaş warned that the coming week will be critical in assessing seismic activity in the Istanbul region, after a series of small tremors were detected in the Sea of Marmara, stressing that the coming days will provide important scientific indicators about the nature of geological movements in the area.

Bektaş explained, according to a Turkish newspaper, that the central basin of the Sea of Marmara has seen a series of light earthquakes in recent days, with magnitudes less than 3.5 on the Richter scale, occurring at depths ranging between 6 and 9 kilometers.

He noted that such tremors usually reflect a redistribution of pressures within parts of the fault due to minor movements in the Earth's crust, pointing out that this does not necessarily mean a destructive earthquake is imminent.

Bektaş said: "This in itself is not a harbinger of a strong earthquake, but the next three to seven days will be among the most important scientific indicators to understand what is happening inside the fault."

He added that the indicator scientists will monitor in the coming period is the possibility of recording an earthquake exceeding magnitude 4, explaining that the occurrence or non-occurrence of such an earthquake will help experts assess the fault condition more accurately.

The Turkish expert called for not limiting expectations to a scenario of a destructive earthquake exceeding magnitude 7, stressing that the geological situation in the Sea of Marmara may develop according to more than one scenario, and that determining whether the fault is locked or moving slowly still requires further studies and continuous monitoring.

The Sea of Marmara lies along the North Anatolian Fault, which is one of the most seismically active faults in the world, and has seen a number of devastating earthquakes over the past decades that have caused significant human and material losses.

Scientists' interest in monitoring the region increased after a magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck off the coast of Istanbul in spring 2025, as Turkish seismic monitoring centers intensified follow-up operations and studies to assess the possibilities of future activity in the region, which geologists consider one of the most vulnerable sites to a strong earthquake that could affect the city of Istanbul, home to more than 16 million people.

Seismologists continuously emphasize that accurately predicting the timing of earthquakes is still not scientifically possible, and that monitoring small tremors and fault movements aims to assess the level of seismic activity and improve the preparedness of authorities and the public, not to assert the imminence of a major earthquake.