Strong M7.3 Seismic Event: Near Iran Iraq Border, Bakhtaran Province, Iran | Ḩalabjah, As Sulaymānīyah, Iraq

Earthquake Event – Iran-Iraq Border Region

The earthquake occurred in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Province of Bakhtaran (population 1,899,338) . The nearest places are Tāzehābād, Iran, 25.1 km (15.6 mi) NW; Ḩalabjah, Iraq, 32.7 km (20.3 mi) S; Pāveh, Iran, 41.8 km (26.0 mi) WSW; Sarpol-e Z̄ahāb, Iran, 47.6 km (29.6 mi) N; As Sulaymānīyah, Iraq, 88.4 km (54.9 mi) SSE.

Event Map: M 7.3 – 32km S of Halabjah, Iraq on 2017-11-12 at 18:18:17 UTC This is a product of the GEOFON Extended Virtual Network (GEVN) and credit belongs to all involved institutions.

IRIS Interactive Earthquake Browser

Middle East – Iran-Iraq Border Region, Ḩalabjah, As Sulaymānīyah, Iraq
Location: 32km S of Halabjah, Iraq
Time:  2017-11-12 18:18:17 UTC
Magnitude: 7.3
Epicenter: 34°51’00.0″N 45°54’00.0″E
Depth: 23.2km (14.4mi) Shallow
Affected Area:  2,480,000 people within 100km 
Area affected: Significant casualties and damage are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread.(estimated radius): 100 km (MMI VIII), Recent earthquakes in this area have caused secondary hazards such as landslides that might contribute to losses.

Population Exposure
Orange alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses.  Past orange alerts have required a regional or national level response.

Population
212 km NE of Baghdad, Iraq / pop: 5,673,000 / local time: 21:18:17.0 2017-11-12
89 km SE of As Sulaymānīyah, Iraq / pop: 724,000 / local time: 21:18:17.0 2017-11-12
41 km S of Ḩalabjah, Iraq / pop: 57,400 / local time: 21:18:17.0 2017-11-12

Additional information about this event

M7.3 earthquake near Ḩalabjah, As Sulaymānīyah, Iraq

M 7.3 in Iran, Islamic Republic of on 12 Nov 2017 18:18 UTC

Recent Earthquakes Near Iran Iraq Border

Mww7.3 Iran-Iraq Border Region

NEIC us2000bmcg

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Tectonic Summary (USGS)

Map of Tectonic Summary Region

The November 12, 2017 M 7.3 earthquake near the Iran-Iraq border in northwest Iran (220 km northeast of Baghdad, Iraq) occurred as the result of oblique-thrust faulting at mid-crustal depth (~25 km). Preliminary focal mechanism solutions for the event indicate rupture occurred on a fault dipping shallowly to the east-northeast, or on a fault dipping steeply to the southwest. At the location of this earthquake, the Arabia plate is moving towards the north with respect to Eurasia at a rate of about 26 mm/yr. The two plates converge along a northwest-striking plate boundary in the general vicinity of this earthquake, driving the uplift of the Zagros mountains in Iran. The location of the event and the shallow, northeast-dipping plane of the focal mechanism solution are consistent with rupture of a plate boundary related structure in this region.

While commonly plotted as points on maps, earthquakes of this size are more appropriately described as slip over a larger fault area. Oblique-thrust-faulting events of the size of the November 12th, 2017 earthquake are typically about 65×25 km (length x width).

Over the preceding century, the region within 250 km of the hypocenter of the November 12, 2017 earthquake has experienced 4 other M6+ earthquakes. The most recent of these was a M 6.1 earthquake about 100 km to the south of the November 2017 event in January 1967. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, a cluster of M 6.0-6.7 earthquakes occurred along the plate boundary about 200 km to the southeast of today’s earthquake. In November 2013, a pair of M 5.6 and M 5.8 earthquakes occurred about 60 km south of the November 2017 event. They are not known to have caused significant damage or fatalities. A M 7.4 earthquake in June 1990, 400 km to the northeast of the November 12, 2017 event, caused between 40,000-50,000 fatalities, more than 60,000 injuries, and left more than 600,000 homeless in the in the Rasht-Qazvin-Zanjan area of Iran.

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More information
Institute of Geophysics, University of Tehran Tehran, Iran
Iraqi Meteorological Organization and Seismology Baghdad, Iraq
International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology Tehran, Iran
USGS/NEIC Denver, USA
GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ) Potsdam, Germany
IRIS Event Based Product Query
Earthquake Track
Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC)