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2005 Zarand earthquake

Date	February 22, 2005 (2005-02-22)
Magnitude	6.4 Mw
Epicenter location	30°43′34″N 56°49′01″E / 30.726°N 56.817°E / 30.726; 56.817
Countries/ regions affected	Iran
Aftershocks	61
Casualties	~612 dead, 990 injured

2005 Zarand earthquake hit the city of Zarand and several villages in Kerman province of Iran on February 22, 2005. The earthquake happened at 5:55 local time (2:25 UTC) and was measured at 6.4 on the Richter scale. The quake lasted for 11 seconds and at least 61 aftershocks were reported [1] ranging in magnitude between 3.3 and 4.8. Zarand is located 740 km southeast of Tehran.

Damage and casualties

Though official reports by Iranian authorities indicate 612 dead and 990 injured, ISNA reports 790 dead and 1,423 injured according to officials in Kerman University of Medical Sciences [2]. Four villages, each having around 1,000 inhabitants, were reported completely destroyed, and 30% to 70% of buildings in more than 40 villages were reported damaged.

Affected area

It is estimated that the population of the affected area exceeds 30,000. A great portion of population of several villages are severely affected because of poor condition of buildings. The epicenter of the quake was in a mountainous and sparsely inhabited area. It is believed that the death toll could have been much higher if the quake had stricken a more densely-populated area like Bam.

According to governor of Kerman province [3] and an independent investigation carried out by ISNA [4] the following cities and villages are affected:

Note: Spelling of names specially italicized ones may have alternative forms.

City or village		Population	Damage	Confirmed casualties
English	Persian
Sarbagh	سرباغ	-	100%	50
Dahuyeh (Dahouyeh)	داغویه (داهوییه) ‏	829	95-100%	136
Houtkan (Houdkan)	حتکن	~1,000	90%	337
Katguiyeh	کتگوییه	200	90%	-
Sakoukan	سکوکان	-	90%	22
Reyhanshahr	ریحانشهر	-	85%	60
Baha-abad	بهاآباد	-	80%	55
Amroudieh	امرودیه	-	80%	13
Madboun	مدبون	-	80%	13
Abdolabad	عبدل آباد	-	70%	18
Fathabad	فتح آباد	-	70%	12
Aliabad-e Olia	علی اباد علیا	-	70%	9
Baharestan	بهارستان	-	70%	5
Motahharabad	مطهرآباد	-	60%	5
Sousefid	سوسفید	-	60%	1
Sarbanan	سربنان	3,000	45%	-
Vahdat villages	دهستان وحدت	11,000	45%	-
Khanouk	خانوک	2,880	45%	-
Zarand	زرند	~15,000	30%	23
Reyhan-Dasht	ریحان دشت	10,000	30%	-
Dastkavineh	دستکوینه	-	-	30
Kerman	کرمان	-	-	7
Ravar	راوار	-	-	3
Kan	کن	490	-	-

Previous quakes

The region of Zarand is close to an active fault, known as the Kuhbanan fault [5] in the north east of the city. Its trend is northwest-southeast and its length is 160 km.

Zarand has been hit by several quakes in the last 70 years, with the oldest recorded one going back to 1933.

On December 21, 1977, the area was hit by a 6.2-magnitude earthquake leaving 521 dead and 3 villages completely destroyed. On December 26, 2003, another devastating earthquake happened in Bam, 200 km southwest of Zarand, which is in the same province.

See also

• 2003 Bam earthquake
• 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake

External links

• International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent bulletins on Zarand earthquake (PDF files): No.1, No.2, No.3, and No.4.
• List of significant earthquakes in Iran since 1972.
• Map of Zarand on multimap.com.
• Online database of earthquakes in Iran on web site of National Geoscience Database of Iran.

Technical records

• U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
• International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology (IIEES)
• Iran Strong Motion Network(ISMN)

News coverage

• BBC News:
  1. Hundreds killed in Iranian quake
  2. Race to reach Iran quake victims
  3. Rain slows Iran quake aid effort
  4. 'No-one knew what to do'
• AFP: Rescuers pull bodies from quake-hit Iran villages as toll tops 530.
• Shargh newspaper (in Persian):
  1. More than 450 victims of Zarand earthquake.
  2. 700 killed, 1,200 injured.
• ISNA photo reports on Zarand earthquake: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11.