2005 Zarand earthquake
2005 Zarand earthquake hit the city of Zarand and several villages in Kerman province of Iran on February 22, 2005. The earthquake happened at 5:55 local time (2:25 UTC) and was measured at 6.4 on the Richter scale. The quake lasted for 11 seconds and at least 61 aftershocks were reported [1] ranging in magnitude between 3.3 and 4.8. Zarand is located 740km southeast of Tehran.
Damage and casualties
Though official reports by Iranian authorities indicate 612 dead and 990 injured, ISNA reports 790 dead and 1,423 injured according to officials in Kerman University of Medical Sciences [2]. Four villages, each having around 1,000 inhabitants, were reported completely destroyed, and 30% to 70% of buildings in more than 40 villages were reported damaged.
Affected area
It is estimated that the population of the affected area exceeds 30,000. A great portion of population of several villages are severely affected because of poor condition of buildings. The epicenter of the quake was in a mountainous and sparsely inhabited area. It is believed that the death toll could have been much higher if the quake had stricken a more densely-populated area like Bam.
According to governor of Kerman province [3] and an independent investigation carried out by ISNA [4] the following cities and villages are affected:
Note: Spelling of names specially italicized ones may have alternative forms. City or village Population Damage Confirmed casualties English Persian Sarbagh سرباغ - 100% 50 Dahuyeh (Dahouyeh) داغویه (داهوییه) 829 95-100% 136 Houtkan (Houdkan) حتکن ~1,000 90% 337 Katguiyeh کتگوییه 200 90% - Sakoukan سکوکان - 90% 22 Reyhanshahr ریحانشهر - 85% 60 Baha-abad بهاآباد - 80% 55 Amroudieh امرودیه - 80% 13 Madboun مدبون - 80% 13 Abdolabad عبدل آباد - 70% 18 Fathabad فتح آباد - 70% 12 Aliabad-e Olia علی اباد علیا - 70% 9 Baharestan بهارستان - 70% 5 Motahharabad مطهرآباد - 60% 5 Sousefid سوسفید - 60% 1 Sarbanan سربنان 3,000 45% - Vahdat villages دهستان وحدت 11,000 45% - Khanouk خانوک 2,880 45% - Zarand زرند ~15,000 30% 23 Reyhan-Dasht ریحان دشت 10,000 30% - Dastkavineh دستکوینه - - 30 Kerman کرمان - - 7 Ravar راوار - - 3 Kan کن 490 - -
Previous quakes
The region of Zarand is close to an active fault, known as the Kuhbanan fault [5] in the north east of the city. Its trend is northwest-southeast and its length is 160km.
Zarand has been hit by several quakes in the last 70 years, with the oldest recorded one going back to 1933.
On December 21, 1977, the area was hit by a 6.2-magnitude earthquake leaving 521 dead and 3 villages completely destroyed. On December 26, 2003, another devastating earthquake happened in Bam, 200km southwest of Zarand, which is in the same province.
See also
External links
- International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent bulletins on Zarand earthquake (PDF files): No.1, No.2, No.3, and No.4.
- List of significant earthquakes in Iran since 1972.
- Map of Zarand on multimap.com.
- Online database of earthquakes in Iran on web site of National Geoscience Database of Iran.
Technical records
- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
- International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology (IIEES)
- Iran Strong Motion Network(ISMN)