Sarsıntı azalmadı; tam tersine arttı.

Sarsıntı literally means shaking, tremor, or vibration.

In this sentence, it most naturally means something like:

• the shaking
• the tremor
• the vibration

The exact English choice depends on context:

• for an earthquake: tremor / shaking
• for a machine or vehicle: vibration
• in a more general physical sense: shaking

It is a noun, and here it is the subject of both verbs.

Azalmadı breaks down like this:

• azal- = to decrease / lessen
• -ma- = negation
• -dı = past tense

So:

• azaldı = it decreased
• azalmadı = it did not decrease

This is a very common Turkish pattern:

• verb stem + negative
  • past tense

Examples:

• gelmedi = he/she/it didn’t come
• bitmedi = it didn’t finish
• durmadı = it didn’t stop

Because Turkish usually does not need an explicit subject pronoun when the subject is already clear from context.

In English, you say:

• It didn’t decrease; on the contrary, it increased.

In Turkish, once sarsıntı has been stated, you do not need to repeat anything:

• Sarsıntı azalmadı; tam tersine arttı.

This is very natural Turkish. Repeating a pronoun would usually sound unnecessary.

Tam tersine means:

• on the contrary
• quite the opposite
• rather the opposite

It is a fixed expression:

• tam = completely / exactly
• tersine = to the opposite / in the reverse direction

Together, it functions idiomatically as on the contrary.

In this sentence, it strengthens the contrast:

• not only did the shaking not decrease,
• it did the opposite: it increased.

Arttı comes from the verb artmak, meaning to increase or to rise.

The form is:

• art- = increase
• -tı = past tense

So:

• arttı = it increased

The double tt appears because of how the stem and suffix come together in spelling and pronunciation. This is the normal written form of the past tense here.

Compare:

• artmak → arttı
• gitmek → gitti
• etmek → etti

So this doubled consonant pattern is something learners will see often.

The suffix -dı / -di / -du / -dü is the definite past tense in Turkish.

Here it shows that the speaker is describing a completed or clearly observed past situation:

• azalmadı = did not decrease
• arttı = increased

This is the most straightforward tense for reporting what happened.

Turkish also has another past form, often called the reported/inferential past:

• azalmamış
• artmış

Those would suggest something like:

• apparently it didn’t decrease
• apparently it increased

But your sentence uses the plain, direct past, as if the speaker knows or observed it.

The semicolon links two closely related statements:

• Sarsıntı azalmadı
• tam tersine arttı

In English, this is similar to:

• The shaking didn’t lessen; on the contrary, it increased.

The semicolon shows a strong connection while keeping the contrast clear. In Turkish, a comma is also sometimes seen in similar sentences, but the semicolon is especially neat here because the second clause strongly contrasts with the first.

Both azalmak and artmak are usually intransitive in sentences like this.

That means the thing itself changes:

• Sarsıntı azaldı = The shaking decreased
• Sarsıntı arttı = The shaking increased

You are not directly doing something to an object here. The subject undergoes the change.

This is similar to English:

• The noise decreased
• The pressure increased

Yes, Turkish word order is flexible, although the given sentence is very natural.

Standard version:

• Sarsıntı azalmadı; tam tersine arttı.

You may also hear or see:

• Sarsıntı azalmadı; tersine, arttı.
• Tam tersine, sarsıntı arttı.

However, the original version is elegant and compact because it avoids repeating sarsıntı in the second clause.

A useful point: Turkish often puts emphasis by moving expressions around, but the final verb position is still very common.

Because tersine is part of the expression tam tersine.

Here, tersine comes from ters with a form that means roughly to the opposite or in the opposite way. As a fixed phrase, tam tersine is the natural idiomatic choice for on the contrary.

So although ters by itself means opposite, reverse, or wrong way round, the sentence needs the full expression:

• tam tersine = on the contrary / quite the opposite

A rough pronunciation guide is:

Sarsıntı azalmadı; tam tersine arttı.
sar-suhn-tuh a-zal-ma-duh; tam ter-see-neh arttuh

A few helpful notes:

• ı is not like English i. It is a deeper, unrounded vowel, often approximated as uh.
• ş is pronounced sh.
• c in Turkish is pronounced like English j, but there is no c in this sentence.
• r is usually lightly tapped.
• tt in arttı is pronounced clearly.

If spoken naturally, the sentence has a clear contrast:

• first clause: Sarsıntı azalmadı
• then a pause
• then emphasis on tam tersine
• then arttı

Yes. Depending on context, several translations are possible:

• The shaking didn’t lessen; on the contrary, it increased.
• The tremor did not subside; quite the opposite, it intensified.
• The vibration didn’t decrease; instead, it got stronger.
• The shaking didn’t die down; on the contrary, it grew.

The Turkish is compact and slightly formal because of tam tersine, so English versions like on the contrary or quite the opposite often match the tone best.