Seismic Hazard Analysis Mapping Project for Iran

The scarcity and uneven distribution of data are among the fundamental challenges in earthquake hazard assessment, not only in Iran but also in most seismically active regions of the world.

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the development of ground-motion measurement instruments has provided valuable data on the magnitude and location of earthquake events. These data enabled the identification of the world’s seismically active belts and contributed to the study of the Earth’s internal structure.

Since then, with the expansion of seismographic networks, an increasing number of earthquake events have been recorded and analyzed each year with greater accuracy. Alongside advances in instrumentation, human knowledge and data-processing methods have also progressed significantly.

In recent years, geological investigations have entered a new phase. Today, the application of modern dating methods enables us to investigate the history of fault activity over very long timescales.

Over the past decade, satellite-based measurement techniques have also been introduced, allowing changes in the Earth’s crust to be measured over both short and long distances. Although these techniques were introduced in Iran somewhat later, they have generated valuable data in recent years.

Project Objective

The objective of this project, which was commissioned by the Deputy for Planning and Strategic Supervision of the President to the Research Institute for Earth Sciences, is to integrate and reassess various datasets related to earthquakes and seismicity in Iran and to use them for earthquake hazard assessment across the country.

This approach to data integration and analysis is being implemented for the first time in Iran. The most up-to-date attenuation relationships, data-processing techniques, and earthquake hazard analysis methods are being employed.

The implementation of this project commenced following a cooperation memorandum dated 16 March 2011 between the Deputy for Planning and Strategic Supervision of the President and the Research Institute for Earth Sciences of the Geological Survey of Iran.

The present report presents the results of geological, seismological, and geodetic studies conducted in two regions: Northeastern Iran (Khorasan) and Northwestern Iran (Azerbaijan). The report was prepared for submission to the project’s steering and technical supervision committees.

It should be noted that studies of the Central Alborz region (Greater Tehran area) had previously been assigned to the University of Tehran and had already been completed.