2003 Bam earthquake

2003 Bam earthquake

File:2003Bamquakemap.gif
UTC time	??
Magnitude	6.6 Mw
Depth	10 kilometres (6.213712 mi)
Epicenter	29.004°N 58.337°E / 29.004; 58.337
Areas affected	Iran
Casualties	30,000 people dead and 30,000 injured

The 2003 Bam earthquake hit the city of Bam in Kerman province of Iran on December 26, 2003.

The earthquake occured at 1:56 AM UTC (5:26 AM Iran Standard Time) and its magnitude was estimated by the United States Geological Survey as 6.6 on the Richter scale.

Two documentaries about this earthquake has been produced titled Bam 6.6 and Voices of Bam.

Background and tectonics

This earthquake occurred as the result of stresses generated by the motion of the Arabian plate northward against the Eurasian plate at a rate of approximately 3 cm (about one inch) per year. Deformation of the Earth's crust in response to the plate motion takes place in a broad zone that spans the entire width of Iran and extends into Turkmenistan. Earthquakes occur as the result of both reverse faulting and strike-slip faulting within the zone of deformation.

Preliminary analysis of the pattern of seismic-wave radiation from the December 26 earthquake is consistent with the earthquake having been caused by right-lateral strike-slip motion on a north-south oriented fault. The earthquake occurred in a region within which major north-south, right-lateral, strike-slip faults had been previously mapped, and the epicenter lies near the previously mapped, north-south oriented, Bam fault. However, field investigations will be necessary to determine if the earthquake occurred on the Bam fault or on another, possibly not yet mapped, fault. The December 26 earthquake is 100 km south of the destructive earthquakes of June 11, 1981 (magnitude 6.6, approximately 3,000 deaths) and July 28, 1981 (magnitude 7.3, approximately 1,500 deaths). These earthquakes were caused by a combination of reverse-motion and strike-slip motion on the north-south oriented Gowk fault.

Damage and casualties

Arg e Bam Before the earthquake.

In this earthquake, Bam Citadel — "the biggest adobe structure of the world" — and most of the city of Bam proper were devastated. The BBC reported that "70% of the modern city of Bam" was destroyed. Death toll numbers as high as 80,000 were rumoured on the street and 70,000 reported in the media. However, the total death toll was given as 56,230 on January 17 and the latest estimate from Tehran has halved previous estimates to 26,271 deaths. An additional 10,000 – 50,000 were reported injured, however this number is very uncertain; the most reported number is 30,000, which may have originated from an early Reuters account. According to the Iranian news agency IRNA, the old Bam Citadel was "levelled to the ground".

Relief efforts and reconstruction

The earthquake damage in Bam

An international relief effort to help the survivors got under way as soon as news of the scale of the disaster reached the outside world. Rescue efforts quickly became a body recovery exercise, with many of the dead being buried in mass graves with the mullahs sanctioning abbreviated Islamic burial rites due to the huge numbers and fear of disease. The high death toll occurred because very few people who were trapped when their mud-brick homes collapsed managed to survive. Rescue workers reported that the collapsing mud-brick structures had completely disintegrated and buried people in piles of earth, rather than trapping them in voids or air pockets between building slabs, as would happen in a concrete building collapse. Those few who did survive being trapped were generally rescued within the first few hours, after being dug out by local survivors, or were trapped in ventilated air pockets. Among the survivors of the earthquake was 97-year-old Sharbānou Māzandarānī (شهربانو مازندرانی in Persian), who was trapped in her home for eight days. Rescue workers took three hours to dig her out after sniffer dogs found her. She survived by being under a table near a ventilation pipe.

The international relief effort staged in the earthquake's aftermath helped to thaw relations somewhat between Iran and western countries. Numerous countries (including the United States and UK) sent supplies and search-and-rescue teams including the International Rescue Corps. In February of 2004 Bam was visited by Charles, Prince of Wales, a further indication of the improvement of international relations following the disaster.

Reconstruction of Bam has been a slow process. In May 2006 it was reported that rebuilding of the city had yet to begin, although plans existed. The mass bereavement and homelessness caused by the disaster led to a huge rise in opium addiction and prostitution, leading to a rise in AIDS cases. There has also been a decline in school attendance.