Iran, on the world’s seismic belt
Iran sits on the Alpine-Himalayan seismic belt, the same belt that makes cities like Istanbul and Tokyo earthquake-prone. Hundreds of active and inactive faults are scattered across the country, making earthquakes a relatively frequent occurrence. Over the past century, earthquakes such as Buin-Zahra (1962), Tabas (1978), Rudbar-Manjil (1990), Bam (2003), and Ezgeleh-Sarpol-e Zahab (2017) have been among the most destructive events in Iran’s earthquake history.