Geology of Massive Iran Earthquake Explained
The strongest earthquake to hit Iran in more than 50 years was a subduction-zone quake — the same tectonic setting underlying deadly temblors in Japan, Chile and Indonesia.
The magnitude-7.8 Khash earthquake struck 51 miles (82 kilometers) beneath the Earth’s surface, where the Arabian Plate dives under the massive Eurasian Plate, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported. The quake hit today (April 16) at 3:14 p.m. local time (6:44 a.m. EDT). Shaking was felt from New Delhi to Dubai, and dozens of people have been reported killed by collapsed structures, according to news reports. The USGS said that there will be more than a 47 percent chance of more than 1,000 fatalities.
Known as the Makran subduction zone, the plate boundary has produced some of the Middle East’s biggest and deadliest earthquakes. For example, in November 1945, a magnitude-8.0 earthquake in Pakistan triggered a tsunami within the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, killing more than 4,000 people….
A smaller earthquake hit Iran on April 9. The magnitude-6.3 Bushehr earthquake, which hit in the southern Zagros Mountains, was unrelated to today’s temblor, the USGS said. That quake was a thrust-fault earthquake, meaning the ground on one side of the fault moved vertically up and over the other side, shortening the distance between the two sides. The epicenter was 55 miles (89 km) southeast of Bushehr, the city where Iran’s only nuclear power station is located.
(via LiveScience)
This is apparently going to be one BITCH of a week.
(Iran’s doing okay, the BBC reports. 30-40 killed in Iran and Pakistan, and several dozen injured, but for an earthquake this massive, injuries and property damage were blessedly minimal.)