Iran located in quake-prone area
Iran, hit by a powerful earthquake on Tuesday in which hundreds are feared dead, is located in a region exposed to continuous risk of tremors, with major calamities dating back to the time of ancient Persia.
The latest quake hit villages outside the city of Kerman in southeastern Iran, 14 months after a massive earthquake devastated the ancient city of Bam, killing about 31,000 people.
The following is a list of some of the severest quakes in Iran over the past four decades:
26 December 2003: More than 31,000 people are killed when a quake measuring up to 6.7 on the Richter scale hits Bam in southeastern Iran, destroying its ancient mud-brick citadel.
22 June 2002: Qazvin and Hamidan provinces in western Iran: 235 dead and 1300 injured (magnitude 6.3).
10 May 1997: Birjand, eastern Iran: 1613 dead and more than 3700 injured (magnitude 7.1).
28 February 1997: Ardebil region in northwestern Iran: 965 dead and 2600 injured, according to an official toll. Aid agencies put the toll at 1100 dead (magnitude 5.5).
21 June 1990: Northwestern Iran: About 37,000 killed and more than 100,000 injured in Ghilan and Zandjan provinces in the deadliest and most powerful quake to hit the country, with a magnitude of 7.7. The quake devastated 27 towns and about 1870 villages.
11 June 1981: Kerman province in southeastern Iran: 1028 dead and 950 injured, with the city of Golbaf hit the hardest. On 28 July another 1300 were killed in a second quake in the same region.
16 September 1978: Eastern Iran: 25,000 killed. The city of Tabass is completely destroyed with 15,000 dead there alone.
10 April 1972: Ghir region in the southern Iranian province of Fars: 5044 killed and more than 1300 severely injured. Forty-five villages destroyed.
31 August 1968: Khorassan province in northeastern Iran: About 10,000 dead.
1 September 1962: Qazvin, west of Tehran: 12,000 killed and 200 villages destroyed.