We use near-fault accelerograms to infer the space-time history of rupture on the fault during the Izmit earthquake. The records show that the ground displacement and velocity near the fault were surprisingly simple. Rupture propagated toward the west at a velocity of about 3 km/s, and toward the east at a remarkably high average velocity of 4.7 km/s over a distance of about 45 km before decelerating to about 3.1 km/s on the eastern segment. Slip on the fault is particularly large down to a depth of 20 km on the central portion of the fault where it reaches about 7 m. Slip is large also below 10 km on the eastern fault segment, and this may have contributed to the loading of shear stress on the D¿zce fault. On the western fault segment, large slip seems confined to shallow depths. ¿ 2000 American Geophysical Union