Recent Earthquakes Damaging Earthquake in Iran

On Feb 28, 1997, a moderate sized earthquake with magnitude Ms=6.1 occurred in northwestern Iran near the town of Ardabil. The shock caused a major damage and resulting about 1,000 deaths, despite its moderate size. Poor materials (mainly adobe block) used and poor construction method for building common dwellings in the region might have been a major cause of damage and deaths.

Earthquake source parameters
DATE
yr/mo/da		 TIME
hh:mm:sec		 LAT.
(°N)		 LONG.
(°E)		 DEPTH
(km)		 MAGNITUDE
mb   Ms		 LOCATION
97/02/28 12:57:22.0 38.10 47.79 33.0            6.1 20 km West of Ardabil, Iran

Feb. 28, 1997, Northwestern Iran Earthquake. The beach-ball, which indicates earthquake source mechanism, for this event suggests predominantly strike slip mechanism.

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Won-Young Kim, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, copyright©1999, all rights reserved