THE ENORMOUS EARTH'S CRUST TENSION AND HYDROCARBON PIPELINE EXPLORATION IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS - EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN

The latest catastrophic earthquakes in eastern Turkey require their geodynamic understanding. The two most decisive events (with magnitude (M) = 7.8 and 7.5) were observed with an interval of 9 hours on February 06, 2023, followed by a whole series of aftershocks (four with M ≥6, about twenty-five with M ≥5 and above, and more than two hundred with M ≥4). These tragic events led to about 50 thousand deaths and enormous property damage. The above values indicate the colossal tension created in the Earth's crust. Besides the conventional geodynamic parameters, such giant tension can be caused by the influence of the giant mantle quasi-ring counterclockwise rotating structure. The existence of this structure has been detected by 11 independent geological-geophysical factors (residual satellite gravity, GPS, paleomagnetic data, geoid isolines, seismic tomography, paleobiogeographical data, coincidence of the center of the structure with the critical latitude of the Earth, a series of tectonic-structural data, etc.). The position of the western part of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline is shown on the Easternmost Mediterranean map of the satellite-derived gravity gradient field accompanied with the essential tectonic parameters. The map of the above and other pipelines of Azerbaijan is combined with the projection of the deep rotating structure on the Earth's surface. The impact of this rotation effect should be considered when laying and operating regional underground oil and gas pipelines.