1978 Tabas earthquake

7.4 Mw earthquake in east-central Iran 1978 Tabas earthquake 1978 Tabas earthquake-Aerial View.jpg View of Tabas following the quake Iran Iran 33.21 57.48 Bullseye1.png 40 Iran 35.70 51.42 120 Tehran Green pog.svg yes 290 right 1978-09-16 15:35:55 676813 iscgem676813 1978 09 16 19:05:55 IRST 7.4 w y 10 km on 33.21 57.48 region:IR_type:event inline,title Thrust Iran $11 million IX 0.8 gThe Seismicity of Egypt, Arabia and the Red Sea: A Historical Review https://books.google.com/books?id=fxnnk2inWT0C N. N. Ambraseys Nicholas Ambraseys C. P. Melville R. D. Adams 2005 Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-02025-1 103, 104, 110 ~6,000 shocks recordedhttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/279485648 Mechanism of the main shock and the aftershock study of the Tabas-e-Golshan (Iran) earthquake of September 16, 1978: A preliminary report Berberian Manuel Asudeh I. Bilham Roger Scholz C.H. December 19791,560 located5.0 b Sept 17, 19785.3 b Dec 6, 19785.1 b Jan 17, 19795.2 b Sept 5, 19795.9 b Jan 12, 1980 15,000–25,000 dead thumb|Topographic map of the epicentral area showing location of epicenter, mapped surface ruptures and observed post-seismic slip The 1978 Tabas earthquake (Persian: زمین‌لرزه ۱۳۵۷ طبس) occurred on September 16 at 19:05:55 local time in central Iran. The shock measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX+ (Violent). The death toll was in the range of 15,000–25,000, with severe damage occurring in the town of Tabas. Tectonic setting Iran is one of the most seismically active countries in the world, being crossed by several major faults that cover at least 90% of the country.2002-07-19 Preliminary Earthquake Reconnaissance Report on the June 22, 2002 Changureh (Avaj), Iran Earthquake http://mceer.buffalo.edu/research/Reconnaissance/Iran6-22-02/ dead https://web.archive.org/web/20100325123100/http://mceer.buffalo.edu/research/Reconnaissance/Iran6-22-02/ March 25, 2010 December 30, 2008 International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology The Iranian plateau is confined by the Turan platform in the north and the Zagros fold and thrust belt and Makran Trench in the south. The Arabian plate is converging to the north with the Eurasian plate at a rate of 35 mm us per year, and is diffused across a 1000 km on zone resulting in continental shortening and thickening throughout the plateau, with strike-slip and reverse faulting present, as well as subduction at the Makran coast.Berberian M. Patterns of historical earthquake rupture in the Iranian Plateau Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 89 1 120 1999 http://www.bssaonline.org/content/89/1/120.abstract https://web.archive.org/web/20120110060340/http://www.bssaonline.org/content/89/1/120.abstract January 10, 2012 dead 1999BuSSA..89..120B 10.1785/BSSA0890010120 Yeats R. Manuel Berberian subscription In eastern Iran, the shortening is accommodated by a combination of relatively short northwest–southeast trending reverse faults, long north–south trending right lateral strike-slip faults and shorter west–east trending left-lateral strike-slip faults.Walker R. Jackson J. Baker C. 2004 Active faulting and seismicity of the Dasht-e-Bayaz region, eastern Iran Geophysical Journal International 157 1 265–282 2004GeoJI.157..265W 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.02179.x free Eastern Iran can experience large and deadly earthquakes from both strike-slip and reverse faults in the area.M 7.4 - 52 km ESE of Tabas, Iran https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usp0000wjx/region-info 2025-03-03 USGS The region that the 1978 earthquake occurred in had been seismically quiet for the last 11 centuries.Berberian M. 1979-12-01 Earthquake faulting and bedding thrust associated with the Tabas-e-Golshan (Iran) earthquake of September 16, 1978 https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa/bssa/article-abstract/69/6/1861/117950/Earthquake-faulting-and-bedding-thrust-associated?redirectedFrom=fulltext Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 69 6 1861–1887 10.1785/BSSA0690061861 1979BuSSA..69.1861B 0037-1106 subscription The earthquake occurred on a blind thrust fault with a significant component of right-lateral slip.Walker R. T. Khatib M. M. Bahroudi A. Rodés A. Schnabel C. Fattahi M. Talebian M. Bergman E. 2015-05-15 Co-seismic, geomorphic, and geologic fold growth associated with the 1978 Tabas-e-Golshan earthquake fault in eastern Iran https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169555X13001037 Geomorphology Geomorphology of Active Faulting and seismic hazard assessment: New tools and future challenges 237 98–118 10.1016/j.geomorph.2013.02.016 2015Geomo.237...98W 0169-555X subscription Multiple smaller earthquakes in the 20th century seemed to indicate a NNW-SSE trend along the Tabas fault, which may be a precursor to the 1978 rupture. Earthquake and aftershocks The main earthquake occurred at 15:35 UTC on September 16, 1978. It was reported by survivors in Tabas that there was a loud roaring noise that began four to four and a half seconds prior to the shaking. An area of about 800 km2 mi2 on experienced shaking of MMI IX or greater, while about 1000 km2 mi2 on experienced MMI VIII.Berberian Manuel 1978 Tabas-E-Golshan (iran) Catastrophic Earthquake of 16 September 1978; a Preliminary Field Report https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-7717.1978.tb00099.x Disasters en 2 4 207–219 10.1111/j.1467-7717.1978.tb00099.x 1467-7717 subscription Thousands of aftershocks were recorded, with over 40 of them a mb 4.0 or greater, with five being mb 5.0 or greater. The largest aftershock, measuring mb 5.9, hit over an year after the mainshock.Latest Earthquakes https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/?currentFeatureId=usp00012t7&extent=30.33495,51.93237&extent=35.58585,63.42407&range=search&timeZone=utc&search=%7B%22name%22:%22Search%20Results%22,%22params%22:%7B%22endtime%22:%221985-10-07T15:35:56.600Z%22,%22latitude%22:33.386,%22longitude%22:57.434,%22maxradiuskm%22:125,%22minmagnitude%22:4,%22starttime%22:%221978-08-26T15:35:56.600Z%22%7D%7D 2025-03-03 earthquake.usgs.gov Many of the larger aftershocks were preceded by a roaring noise. Reportedly, two-thirds of Iran, including the capital city of Tehran, felt the earthquake.https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1978/9/19/massive-earthquake-devastates-iran-killing-15000/ Massive Earthquake Devastates Iran, Killing 15,000 and Destroying Towns | News | The Harvard Crimson thecrimson.com A field survey carried out ten days after the earthquake identified a series of surface ruptures, totalling 85 km. In all but one case the ruptures showed evidence of reverse/thrust fault movement. The maximum observed surface displacement was 35 cm, insufficient to generate the measured size of the earthquake, which indicates a minimum of 3 metres of movement. There was also evidence of bedding-plane slip, suggesting that folds, such as those to the east of the Tabas and Kurit faults, grew during the earthquake.Zhou Y. Walker R.T. Hollingsworth J. Talebian M. Song X. Parson B. 2016 Coseismic and postseismic displacements from the 1978 Mw 7.3 Tabas-e-Golshan earthquake in eastern Iran Earth and Planetary Science Letters 452 185–196 10.1016/j.epsl.2016.07.038 https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:e1924c37-3813-4ec0-af54-852aec97c21a Further analysis has been carried out using a combination of aerial photographs, satellite images and synthetic aperture radar (SAR). These results have shown that slip on the causative fault continued for at least 40 years after the earthquake. The minimum total post-seismic slip is estimated as 4.7 m. These results, combined with the depth distribution of aftershocks, suggest that there is a low-angle detachment fault extending westward from the Shotori range front, linking to a high-angle ramp that reaches the surface.Zhou Y. Thomas M.Y. Parsons B. Walker R.T. 2018 Time-dependent postseismic slip following the 1978 Mw 7.3 Tabas-e-Golshan, Iran earthquake revealed by over 20 years of ESA InSAR observations Earth and Planetary Science Letters 483 64–75 10.1016/j.epsl.2017.12.005 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03079640/file/tabas_insar_v3.pdf Damage The earthquake destroyed or severely damaged around 90 villages, with a further 50 villages suffering some damage. The town of Tabas was completely destroyed. The city of Ferdows was also badly affected, with 80% of its buildings destroyed.Berberian Manuel Afterstock tectonics of the 1978 Tabas-e-Golshan (Iran) earthquake sequence: a documented active 'thin and thick-skinned tectonic' case Geophys. J. R. Astron. Soc. 1982 68 2 499–530 10.1111/j.1365-246X.1982.tb04912.x free 1982GeoJ...68..499B More than 15,000 housing units and 30 qanats (water supply systems) were destroyed, although water reservoirs were unaffected. The degree of damage to buildings was exacerbated by the predominant construction style using adobe walls with heavy roofs. Even newer buildings that had steel beam roofs still used adobe walls. The weakness of the sun-dried mud bricks caused most of this type of building to collapse, particularly where they were sited on alluvium. A few more modern buildings, such as several schools and a hospital were less badly affected than those of traditional construction.Mohajar_Ashjai A. Nowroozi A.A. 1979 The Tabas Earthquake of September 16, 1978 in East-Central Iran Geophysical Research Letters 6 9 689–692 The earthquake triggered many landslides and rockfalls on the steeper slopes in the epicentral area. The flow of water in springs and qanats was disrupted and small mud volcanoes were observed on the Tabas playa. Manuel Berberian reported that over 20,000 people were killed, with 85% fatalities in Tabas itself (11,000 people). Some later reports give up to 26,000 deaths. The earthquake was the third-deadliest natural disaster in Iran in the last hundred years.Zandian Elham Rimaz Shahnaz Naieni Kourosh Nedjat Saharnaz Economic Effects of 1978 Tabas Earthquake (Iran) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305157334 March 3, 2025 Aftermath Immediately after the earthquake, rescue efforts were hindered by the failure of the local power station and a lunar eclipse two hours after the earthquake mainshock. In response to the disaster, the Iranian Army dispatched four medical teams, 700 soldiers and many other rescue workers to the affected area. Damage to the qanat system meant that water had to be transported to Tabas from Mashan, 9 hours drive away.16 December 1978 1978: Thousands dead in Iran earthquake https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/16/newsid_4613000/4613135.stm BBC Poor government response in the aftermath of this earthquake was a contributing factor in the Iranian revolution that was taking place at that time. See also List of earthquakes in 1978 List of earthquakes in Iran References Earthquakes and Coseismic Surface Faulting on the Iranian Plateau https://books.google.com/books?id=_ur1AgAAQBAJ M. Berberian Manuel Berberian 2014 Developments in Earth Surface Processes 1st Elsevier 978-0-444-63297-5 609 ISC-GEM Global Instrumental Earthquake Catalogue (1900–2009) http://www.isc.ac.uk/iscgem/index.php ISC 19 January 2015 International Seismological Centre Version 2.0 PAGER-CAT Earthquake Catalog https://earthquake.usgs.gov/static/lfs/data/pager/catalogs/ September 4, 2009 United States Geological Survey Version 2008_06.1 M5.0 – eastern Iran https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usp0000wkg#general_summary United States Geological Survey External links M7.4 – eastern Iran – United States Geological Survey 676813 1978 Tabas Earthquake Category:History of South Khorasan province Category:September 1978 in Asia Tabas Earthquake, 1978