Earthquake in Western Iran: Renovation Kills

BRIEF INCIDENT REPORT At 21:48 local time, on Nov. 12, 2017, western Kermanshah Province in Iran was shaken by an earthquake of moment magnitude Mw7.3 for about 30 s1 . The epicenter has been reported at the 34.88°N and 45.84°E coordination near the Iran–Iraq border and the depth at 23 km. Based on the active fault map of Iran, this earthquake can be triggered by the movement of the Zagros Mountain Front Fault in Pol-e-Zahab Region11 . In addition, more than 500 aftershocks, greatest of which with magnitude of 4.9 have been recorded by the Iranian Seismological Center. Due to this earthquake, 620 people died2 , 8,000 injured, 70,000 displaced, and over 12,000 buildings damaged1 . The total exposed population was 4,700,000 including 75% urban and 25% rural3,4 . Most of the fatalities are reported in Sarpol-e Zahab, Qasr-e-Shirin, and Thalath Babajani. The highest number (559 death) was in the city of Sarpol-e Zahab2 around 200 of which from a small area called Fouladi. Most of the local buildings were one-story adobe, covered with heavy flat roofs. Nevertheless, in larger villages and cities, more-storey brick-based and cement-based buildings were seen. Many of which were newly constructed or reconstructed structures that built according to developed and mandated codes after the bam earthquake of 25 Dec 2003 in Iran. However, around 80% of destructions occurred in buildings with no frame, both in the urban and rural areas4 , around 70% of which are visually estim...
Source: PLOS Currents Disasters - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Source Type: research