Disaster in South-East of Iran: Saravan Earthquake with Minimum Mortality

Abstract

The aim of the present article is to analyze the current state of Saravan city after the earthquake in 1392 and to examine the potential of the city against crises. The city is on the Saravan fault, the beginning of which is the western border of Pakistan that connects to the Zahedan fault. The city was hit with a 7.5-magnitude earthquake on Tuesday, April 16, 2013 at 3:14 PM. The number of injuries was low, and most of the earthquake victims needed quick treatments; therefore, there was no need for establishing a transportation corridor in order to evacuate the injured. What appears to be important is that the earthquake discussed in the present article may be misleading; Saravan is located in a lowly populated area of the south-east part of Iran, and unlike Varzaghan, Ahar, and Haris, most construction buildings in Saravan are one-story, worn-out, brick buildings of destructible, light structure. It is important to be wary that a similar incident in another part of the country will inflict more damage and casualties. (JAEM 2014; 13: 216-8)