Abstract
This article is devoted to evaluating destructive earthquakes (magnitude >6) of Iran and determining properties of their source parameters. First of all, a database of documented earthquakes has been prepared via reliable references and causative faults of each event have been determined. Then, geometric parameters of each fault have been presented completely. Critical parameters such as Maximum Credible Rupture, MCR, and Maximum Credible Earthquake, MCE, have been compiled based on the geometrical parameters of the earthquake faults. The calculated parameters have been compared to the maximum earthquake and the surface rupture which have been recorded for the earthquake faults. Also, the distance between the epicenter of documented earthquake events and their causative faults has been calculated (the distance was less than 20 km for 90% of the data). Then, the distance between destructive earthquakes (with the magnitude more than 6) and the nearest active fault has been calculated. If the estimated distance is less than 20 km and the mechanism of the active fault and the event are reported the same, the active fault will be introduced as a probable causative fault of that earthquake. In the process, all of the available geological, tectonic, seismotectonic maps, aerial geophysical data as well as remote sensing images have been evaluated. Based on the quality and importance of earthquake data, the events have been classified into three categories: (1) the earthquakes which have their causative faults documented, (2) the events with magnitude higher than 7, and (3) the events with the magnitude between 6 and 7. For each category, related maps and tables have been compiled and presented. Some important faults and events have been also described throughout the paper. As mentioned in this paper, these faults are likely to be in high seismic regions with potential for large-magnitude events as they are long, deep and bound sectors of the margins characterized by different deformation and coupling rates on the plate interface.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akasheh B, Eshghi I (1979) The Iran earthquake of December 19, 1977 Bab-tangal, North western Kerman. J Earth Sp Phys 8(1):65–71
Ambraseys NN, Melville CP (1982) A history of Persian earthquakes. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Authemayou C, Chardon D, Bellier O, Malekzadeh Z, Shabanian E, Abbassi MR (2006) Late Cenozoic partitioning of oblique plate convergence in the Zagros fold and thrust belt (Iran). Tectonics 25(3). doi:10.1029/2005TC001860
Azadi A (2010) Integrated geophysical methods for determining geometry of the Kahrizak Fault, Tehran, Iran. Natl Hazards. doi:10.1007/s11069-010-9506-9
Bachmanov D et al (2004) Active faults in the Zagros and central Iran. Tectonophysics 380:221–241
Baker C, Jackson J, Priestley K (1993) Earthquakes on the Kazerun Line in the Zagros Mountains of Iran: strike-slip faulting within a fold-and-thrust belt. Geophys J Int 115:41–61
Berberian M (1976) An explanatory note on the first seismotectonic map of Iran; a seismo-tectonic review of the country. Geol Surv Iran 39:7–142
Berberian M (1979) Earthquake faulting and bedding thrust associated with the Tabas-e-Golshan (Iran) earthquake of September 16, 1978. Bull Seismol Soc Am 69:1861–1887
Berberian M (1981) Active faulting and tectonics of Iran, in Zagros, Hindu Kush, Himalaya. Geodyn Evol Geodyn Ser Am Geophys Un 3:33–69
Berberian M (1994) Natural hazard and the first earthquake catalogue of Iran, historical hazards in Iran prior to 1900. Int Inst Earthq Eng Seismol 1:603
Berberian M (1995) Master blind thrust faults hidden under the Zagros folds: active basement tectonics and surface morphotectonics. Tectonophysics 241:193–224
Berberian M, Yeats RS (1999) Patterns of Historical Earthquake Rupture in the Iranian Plateau. Bull Seismol Soc Am 89:120–139
Berberian M, Yeats R (2001) Contribution of archaeological data to studies of earthquake history in the Iranian Plateau. J Struct Geol 23(2001):563–584
Berberian M, Asudeh I, Arshadi S (1979) Surface rupture and mechanism of the Bob-Tangol (southeastern Iran) earthquake of 19 December, 1977. Earth Planet Sci Lett 42:456–462
Berberian M, Qorashi M, Arzhangravesh B, Mohajer-Ashjai A (1983) Recent tectonics, Seismotectonics, and earthquake-fault hazard study of the greater Qazvin area. Geol Surv Iran 57:84p
Berberian M, Qorashi M, Jackson J, Priestley K, Wallace T (1992) The Rudbar-Tarom earthquake of 20 June 1990 in NW Persia: preliminary field and seismological observations, and its tectonic significance. Bull Seismol Soc Am 82:1726–1755
Berberian M, Jackson J, Qorashi M, Khatib M, Priestley K, Talebian M, Ghafuri-Ashtiani M (1999) The 1997 May 10 Zirkuh (Qa’enat) earthquake (Mw 7.2): faulting along the Sistan suture zone of eastern Iran. Geophys J Int 136:671–694
Berberian M, Jackson J, Qorashi M, Talebian M, Khatib M, Priestley K (2000) The 1994 Sefidabeh earthquakes in eastern Iran: blind thrusting and bedding-plane slip on a growing anticline, and active tectonics of the Sistan suture zone. Geophys J Int 142:283–299
Berberian M et al (2001) The 1998 March 14 Fandoqa Earthquake (Mw 6.6) in Kerman province, southeast Iran: re-rupture of the 1981 Sirch earthquake fault, triggering of slip on adjacent thrusts and the active tectonics of the Gowk fault zone. Geophys J Int 146:371–398
DeMets C, Gordon RG, Argus DF, Stein S (1990) Current plate motion. Geophys J Int 101:425–478
Engdahl ER, Jackson JA, Myers SC, Bergman EA, Priestley K (2006) Relocation and assessment of seismicity in the Iran region. Geophys J Int. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.03127.x
Falcon NL (1961) Major earth-flexuring in the Zagros mountains of south-west Iran. Quart J Geol Soc Lond 117:367–376
Hatzfeld D, Tatar M, Priestley K, Ghafory-Ashtiany M (2003) Seismological constraints on the crustal structure beneath the Zagros mountain belt (Iran). Geophys J Int 155:403–410
Hessami K, Jamali F (2006) Explanatory notes to the map of major active faults of Iran. JSEE 8(1):1–11
Hessami K, Alyasin S, Jamali F (1997) An investigation of some historical earthquakes and paleoseismic sources in Iran. In: Historical and prehistorical earthquakes in the Caucasus Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands pp 189–199
Hessami K, Pantosti D, Tabassi H, Shabanian E, Abbassi MR, Feghhi K, Solaymani S (2003) Paleoearthquakes and slip rates of the north Tabriz fault, NW Iran: preliminary results. Ann Geophys 46(5):903–915
Hessami K, Tabassi H, Abbassi MR, Azuma T, Okumura K, Echigo T, Kondo H (2004) Surface expression of the Bam fault zone in southeastern Iran: Causative fault of the 26 December 2003 Bam earthquake. J Seismol Earthq Eng Special Issue on Bam Earthquake:5–14
Hessami K, Tabassi H, Okumura K, Abbassi MR, Azuma T (2005) Surface deformation and the fault responsible for the December 26, 2003 earthquake at Bam, Iran. Earthq Spectra 21(3):113–123
Jackson J, Fitch TJ (1981) Basement faulting and the focal depths of the larger earthquakes in the Zagros mountains. Geophys J R Astron Soc 64:561–586
Jackson JA, McKenzie DP (1984) Active tectonics of the Alpine-Himalayan belt between Turkey and Pakistan. Geophys J Int 77(1):185–264
Maggi A, Jackson JA, McKenzie D, Priestley K (2000) Earthquake focal depths, effective elastic thickness, and the strength of the continental lithosphere. Geology; June 2000; 28(6):495–498; 5 figures
McEvilly T, Niazi M (1975) Post-earthquake observations at Dasht-e Bayāz, Iran. Tectonophysics 26:267–279
Meyer B, Le Dortz K (2007) Strike‐slip kinematics in central and eastern Iran: estimating fault slip‐rates averaged over the Holocene. Tectonics 26(5). doi:10.1029/2006TC002073
Meyer B, Mouthereau F, Lacombe O, Agard P (2006) Evidence for Quaternary activity along the Deshir fault: implication for the tertiary tectonics of central Iran. Geophys J Int 164:192–201
Ni J, Barazangi M (1986) Seismotectonics of the Zagros continental collision zone and a comparison with the Himalayas. J Geophys Res 91:8205–8218
Parsons B et al (2006) The 1994 Sefidabeh (eastern Iran) earthquakes revisited: new evidence from satellite radar interferometry and carbonate dating about the growth of an active fold above a blind thrust fault. Geophys J Int 164:202–217
Ramazi HR (2004) Attenuation Laws of Iranian earthquakes. Journal of Amirkabir University of Technology 12(60-3):101–108, Winter 2004–2005, Tehran, Iran
Ramazi HR, Schenk V (1994) Preliminary results obtained by a processing of Iranian accelerograms. In: XX IV General Assembly of European Seismologist Commission, Sept. 14–19 Athens, Greece, pp 1662–1670
Ramazi H, Haghani R (2006) The 22 June 2002 Avaj, Iran, earthquake: a field report. Seismol Res Lett 77:723–730
Ramazi H, Hosseinnejad M (2009) The Silakhor (Iran) earthquake of 31 March 2006, from an engineering and seismological point of view. Seismol Res Lett 80:224–232
Ramazi HR, Soltani H (2005) The Bam (Iran) earthquake of December 26, 2003: from an engineering and seismological point of view. J Asian Earth Sci 27(5):576–584
Regard V et al (2005) Cumulative right-lateral fault slip rate across the Zagros–Makran transfer zone: role of the Minab–Zendan fault system in accommodating Arabia–Eurasia convergence in southeast Iran. Geophys J Int 162:177–203
Scholz CH (ed) (2007) The mechanics of earthquakes and faulting. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Talebian M, Jackson J (2004) A reappraisal of earthquake focal mechanisms and active shortening in the Zagros mountains of Iran. Geophys J Int 156:506–526
Tatar M (2007) The 2004 May 28 Baladeh earthquake (Mw 6.2) in the Alborz, Iran: overthrusting the South Caspian Basin margin, partitioning of oblique convergence and the seismic hazard of Tehran. Geophys J. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2007.03386.x
Tatar M, Hatzfeld D (2009) Microseismic evidence of slip partitioning for the Rudbar-Tarom earthquake (Ms 7.7) of 1990 June 20 in NW Iran. Geophys J Int 176:529–541
Tatar M, Hatzfeld D, Ghafory-Ashtiany M (2004) Tectonics of the Central Zagros (Iran) deduced from microearthquake seismicity. Geophys J Int 156:255–266
Tchalenko JS (1975) Seismicity and structure of the Kopet Dagh (Iran, USSR). Philos Trans R Soc 278:1–25
Tchalenko J, Ambraseys NN (1970) Structural analysis of the Dasht-e Bayaz (Iran) earthquake fractures. Geol Soc Am Bull 81:41–60
Tchalenko JS, Berberian M, Behzadi H (1973) Geomorphic and seismic evidence for recent activity of the Doruneh fault (Iran). Tectonophysics 19:333–341
Walker R, Jackson J (2002) Offset and evolution of the Gowk fault, SE Iran: a major intra-continental strike slip system. J Struct Geol 24:1677–1698
Walker R, Jackson J (2004) Active tectonics and late cenozoic strain distribution in central and eastern Iran. Tectonics 23:5010. doi:10.1029/2003TC001529
Walker R, Khatib M (2006) Active faulting in the Birjand region of NE Iran. Tectonics 25(4). doi:10.1029/2005TC001871
Walker R, Jackson J, Baker C (2003) Surface expression of thrust faulting in eastern Iran: source parameters and surface deformation of the 1978 Tabas and 1968 Ferdows earthquake sequences. Geophys J Int 152:749–765
Walker R, Jackson J, Baker C (2004) Active faulting and seismicity of the Dasht-e-Bayaz region, eastern Iran. Geophys J Int 157:265–282
Walker R, Bergman E, Jackson J, Ghorashi M, Talebian M (2005) The 2002 June 22 Changureh (Avaj) earthquake in Qazvin province, northwest Iran: epicentral relocation, source parameters, surface deformation and geomorphology. Geophys J Int 160:707–720
Wells DL, Coppersmith KJ (1994) New empirical relationships among magnitude, rupture length, rupture width, rupture area, and surface displacement. Bull Seismol Soc Am 84:974–1002
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to appreciate the editorial board of Natural Hazard Journal and three anonymous reviewers for their scientific suggestions which significantly raised the quality of the paper. Also, the authors thank Mr. Ivan Saltmarsh for reviewing the English proficiency of this paper and his comments which significantly raised the English quality of this article.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Appendix
Appendix
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jalali, M., Ramazi, H. On the problem of destructive Iranian earthquakes and their causative faults. Nat Hazards 85, 1529–1555 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-016-2643-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-016-2643-z