M 6.6 Earthquake - December 2003, Iran
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On 26 December 2003 at 05:26 local time, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck Kerman Province in south-central Iran causing significant damage across the region1,2. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 10 km and was located 180 km south-east of the provincial capital of Kerman and 975 km SE of Tehran3. The ancient city of Bam was worst affected, along with 37 surrounding villages leading to 125,000 becoming homeless1.
The high death toll was the result of a number of factors. Firstly, the earthquake occurred at shallow depth on a fault that traversed the city, secondly, the buildings were inappropriate for a region of high seismicity and lastly, most people were asleep when the earthquake hit4. The directivity of the earthquake also played a significant role in why the damage to the city of Bam was so extensive. The elastic energy from the quake was directed towards the city due to the location of the hypocentre opposite Bam relative to the ruptured area5.
1 Pinera, J-F, Reed, R.A & Njiru, C. 2005. Restoring sanitation services after an earthquake: field experience in Bam, Iran. Disasters. Vol. 29, pp 222-236
2 Jackson, J, Bouchon, M, Fielding, E, Funning, G, Ghorashi, M, Hatzfeld, D, Nazari, H, Parsons, B, Priestley, K, Talebian, M, Tatar, M, Walker, R & Wright, T. 2006. Siesmotectonic rupture process, and earthquake-hazard aspects of the 2003 December 26 Bam, Iran, earthquake. Geophysical Journal International. Vol. 166, pp 1270-1292
3 ReliefWeb. 2004. USAID Iran Earthquake – Fact Sheet #8
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/ACOS-64CRYG?OpenDocument
4 Nadim, F, Moghtaderi-Zadeh, M, Lindholm, C, Andresen, A, Remseth, S, Bolourchi, M, Mokhtari, M & Tvedt, E. 2004. The Bam Earthquake of December 2003. Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering. Vol. 2, pp 119-153
5 Bouchon, M, Hatzfeld, D, Jackson, J.A & Haghshenas, E. 2006. Some insight on why Bam (Iran) was destroyed by an earthquake of relatively moderate size. Geophysical Research Letters. Vol. 33, pp 1-4
6 ReliefWeb. 2006. Iran: Bam earthquake Appeal No. 25/03 Operations Update No. 24.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EGUA-6L4N66?OpenDocument
Event overview table
| No. Deaths | 26,271 |
| No. Injured | 30,000 |
| No. Affected | 200,000 |
| Houses destroyed | 49,000 |
| Houses damaged | |
| Other damage |
- Infrastructure |
| Economic cost |