A 7.7 earthquake hit the northwest Iran on June 21, 1990, 00:30:09 and killed at least 50,000 people. The Manjil-Rudbar earthquake caused widespread damaged within 200km northwest of Tehran and a 100km radius of the epicenter near the city of rasht-700 villages and the cities of Manjil, Rudbar and Lushan were destroyed, and over three villages were affected. The damages in healthcare in damage in Gilan & Zanjan provinces southwest of Caspian Sea cost up to $200,000,000. The earthquake caused 500,000 people homeless, 100,000 adobe houses sustained major damage or collapsed resulting in 40000 dead and 60000 injured. The movements arising from Arabic and Eurosia tectonic plates have been always affecting the Iranian plateau and therefore these earthquakes are somehow inevitable.
Located in the active alpine-Himalayan seismic belt, Iran is an earthquake prone country that has experienced more than 130 strong earthquakes with a magnitude of more than 7.5 in the past centuries. Recent earthquakes in Iran have shown Iran’s vulnerability to earthquakes as well as its seismicity. In all these earthquakes, the failures of structures that for the level of earthquake hazard in Iran have caused human and economic losses. To control the seismic risk, since 1991, after the Manjil-Rudbar, a comprehensive earthquake hazard reduction programme has launched in Iran. This programme has had a impact on earthquake hazard mitigation and public awareness as well as the earthquake research programmes in Iran and has great achievement. In middle east region, tectonic activity is forced by the movements between the two plate: the Arabian plate, including Saudi Arabia, Persian gulf and the zagros ranges of Iran, and the Eurasian plate that incorporates Europe, central and East Asia, as well as the interior Iran.
After doing researches and knowing more about earthquakes, I think warning people before the earthquake to allow them to leave the place will help to minimize damage from such events. I also think that the government should also invest more on buildings so that the buildings can have better foundation and will not collapse easily when a earthquakes strikes the place. I think this will minimize damage from such events. I hope people can know more about earthquakes so they can try their best to minimize damages from such events.
Websites
http://www.apmforum.com/earthquakeiran.pdf
