Iran – M 5.7 – 2 people killed and 17 people injured in Iran quake

Landscape around the epicenter - Click on the picture to see it in the Google map

Update August 28 – 8:47 UTC

Following Reuters alertnet the dead toll rises to 3 and tens of injured people are reported  after a shallow earthquake struck the area of Damghan. Read the full Reuters Alertnet report here

Update August 27 – 23:47 UTC

Irna, the Islamic Republic News Agency reports that in the Damghan area a 4 year old child and an infant were killed and 17 were injured.
The quake has damaged the villages of Kohzar (Kuh Zar) , Shimi (Shemi) and Kelo.
These villages are approximately 3 to 5 km from the epicenter.
Since the main tremor, 5 aftershocks have jolted the area.
Look here at a Panoramio picture taken in the immediate vicinity of the epicenter and the damaged villages

Initial Earthquake report
Luckily the epicenter area is scarcely populated.
Shallow earthquakes in Iran can be very damaging.
286 people live in a radius of 5 km around the epicenter
547 people live in a radius of 10 km around the epicenter
818 people live in a radius of 20 km around the epicenter
1957 people live in a radius of 50 km around the epicenter
92,247 people live in a radius of 100 km around the epicenter
GDACS has issued a GREEN earthquake report shortly after the earthquake.
Maximum expected shaking in a radius of 25 km around the epicenter will be VI Mercalli = strong shaking.
As houses are NOT earthquake proof in Iran, and earthquake of this magnitude is mostly very dangerous.

The earthquake was felt until Tehran, 285 km from the epicenter.
Reuters Alertnet reports that Iranian state television brought a report that ‘Three villages in the area were damaged … and three people were injured‘. Read the full report in Reuters Alertnet

There are NO nuclear installations or hydrodams in the epicenter area.
Local agencies are reporting a Magnitude of 5.9.
The earthquake struck south of Damghan city in the desert area of Dasht-e-Kavir. Damghan City has a population of 67,694 and is located about 81 km from the epicenter.

Seismogram of this earthquake in nearby Armenia.

City of Bam in 2002 - Image via Wikipedia

Iran is criss-crossed with fault lines and is regularly hit by earthquakes, experiencing at least one slight tremor every day on average.
The worst in recent times hit Bam in southeastern Kerman province in December 2003, killing 31,000 people – about a quarter of its population – and destroying the city’s ancient mud-built citadel.
The deadliest quake in the country was in June 1990 and measured 7.7 on the Richter scale. About 37,000 people were killed and more than 100,000 injured in the northwestern provinces of Gilan and Zanjan. It devastated 27 towns and about 1,870 villages.

Most important Earthquake Data:
Friday, August 27, 2010 at 10:53:48 PM at epicenter
Depth (Hypocenter) : 10 km
Geo-location(s) :
105 km (65 miles) E of Semnan, Iran
155 km (95 miles) S of Gorgan, Iran
285 km (175 miles) E of TEHRAN, Iran

Links to important maps
USGS Did You Feel It Map
Google satellite map of the area showing the kind of terrain the earthquake took place
USGS Shaking map
USGS historic earthquakes map
GDACS Green Earthquake Alert (Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System)

* GDACS (Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System) provides near real-time alerts about natural disasters around the world.  GDACS is a Joint Initiative of the United Nations and the European Commission

QuakeSOS is a FREE  iPhone application developed by Armand Vervaeck, the creator and main contributor to Earthquake Report.  The Application simplifies immediate group communication to friends and family members (with your exact GPS location) and is constantly feeding the users with “Earthquake Report” news. Together with your own family and friends, QuakeSOS will be your closest earthquake friend.