Week 5 Volcanoes Hazard of Iran

Volcanic mountains form due to the eruption of molten material and the accumulation of such material. An explosion occurs when the pressure of gases and molten rocks in the Earth's core becomes excessively high. Outbreaks can occur slowly or explosively, accompanied by molten material flows, toxic gases, ash emissions, and volcanic fire. Iran has five volcanoes: Damavand, Sabalan, Taftan, Bazman, and Sahand. Out of these, Bazman, Taftan, and Damavand are considered active volcanoes.

Bazman

 (stratovolcano 3490 m / 11,450 ft)

Bazman volcano is a stratovolcano in SE Iran, 180 km SSW of the city of Zahedan. The volcano has a well-preserved 500 m wide summit crater with minor fumaroles, which suggest it could be still active. 

Bijar Volcanic Field

 (Pyroclastic cone(s) unknown)

Damavand

 (stratovolcano 5670 m / 18,602 ft)

Conical snow-capped Damavand volcano is the highest volcano in the Middle East. It towers dramatically 70 km to the NE above Iran's capital city of Tehran. Activity at the 5670-m-high stratovolcano has been dominated by lava effusion. Young lava flows erupted from the summit vent blanket the western side of the volcano, and the youngest dated lava flows were erupted about 7000 years ago. Photo by Arad Mojtahedi, 2006 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Damavand_in_winter.jpg)

Damavand volcano is a majestic stratovolcano located 70 km NE of Tehran and 70 km south of the Caspian Sea. Mt Damavand is the highest peak in the Middle East and the second highest volcano in Asia (after Kunlun volcano in Tibet).
Damavand last erupted about 7,300 years ago... [more]

Dehaj-Meduk

 (Volcanic field unknown)

East Neh

 (Unknown unknown)

Gandom Beryan

 (Unknown 500 m / 1640 ft)

Kuh-e Ayyub Ansar

 (Lava dome 2506 m / 8222 ft)

Qal'eh Hasan Ali

 (maars unknown summit elevation)

Qal'eh Hasan Ali volcano is a group of 14 maars about 5,000-50,000 years old in SE Iran. The maars range from 150 to 1200 m in diameter. The largest of the maars Great Crater, 1.2 km wide and 200-300 m deep. 

Sabalan

 (stratovolcano 4811 m / 15,784 ft)

Sabalan volcano (Kuhha-ye-Sabalan) is a massive andesitic stratovolcano in NW Iran, 80 km west of Caspian Sea and west of the city of Ardabil.
It is the second highest volcano of Iran (after Damavand volcano) and the highest peak in NW Iran. Sabalan volcano has 7 glaciers c.

Sahand

 (stratovolcano 3707 m / 12,162 ft)

Sahand volcano (also known as Kuh-e-Sahand) is a stratovolcano in NW Iran, about 60 km east of Lake Urmia (Azarbayjan-e Gharbi) and 40 km SSE of Tabriz city.
There are no known historic eruptions, but the volcano is possibly still active and has probably erupted within the.

Shahsavaran

 (Volcanic field unknown)

Taftan

 (stratovolcano 3940 m / 12,926 ft)

Taftan volcano is a strongly eroded stratovolcano in SE Iran. The andesitic volcano has 2 summits (Narkuh and Matherkuh). Very active sulfur fumaroles are found at the summit of the higher SE cone.
Reports of activity in 1902 and 1993 are uncertain.

unnamed

 (volcanic field unknown summit elevation)

A large young lava field which probably has been active within the past 10,000 years is located in the far NW corner of Iran, near the border with Azerbaijan, about 40 km east of the Iranian city of Maku.

unnamed

 (volcanic field unknown summit elevation)

An unnamed volcanic field is located between Taftan and Bazman citied in SE Iran. It contains very young-looking basaltic lava flows erupted from perfectly preserved cones, located in an area of eroded Cretaceous limestone peaks. 

Introduction to the Volcanoes of Iran - Incredible Iran

Week 3: Earthquakes

 An earthquake is caused by a sudden slip on a fault. The tectonic plates are always slowly moving, but they get stuck at their edges due to friction. When the stress on the edge overcomes the friction, there is an earthquake that releases energy in waves that travel through the earth's crust and cause the shaking that we feel.

Iran is an extremely earthquake-prone country. These natural disasters have caused the country tragic loss of life and hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure damage. Over time, the Iranian government has implemented some mitigation efforts to limit damage, however, these efforts have not been sufficient, and regulations remain unenforced due to economic turbulence. 

            

What actions has Iran taken to mitigate the consequences of earthquakes?

Earthquake mitigation typically comes in three stages: prevention, control, and rehabilitation. Earthquake prevention is geared towards early detection of a seismic event. In 2017, Tehran began developing an Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) system to detect seismic activity within the city. This detection system has since evolved significantly, and studies show that it provides reliable and accurate warnings of earthquakes from 1 second to 20 seconds. While seemingly a short amount of time, this provides crucial moments for individuals to locate shelter as the quake continues. 

Iran has also opted to alter its architecture in response to earthquakes, developing earthquake-resistant homes. Poor architecture and building materials have caused damage to Iranian towns and villages when faced with earthquakes, as they often lack internal resistance and support. After an earthquake in 1962, Iranian architects and scientists gathered to create the “Iranian Code for Seismic-Resistant Buildings Design”, which established codes and regulations for buildings being constructed within Iran. Other private architects within Iran have also opted to create designs to decrease damages caused by earthquakes.

  

  We can see the most recent activity on the eartquaketrack  Today's Earthquakes in Iran (earthquaketrack.com)

Iran has had: (M1.5 or greater)

• 0 earthquakes in the past 24 hours
• 0 earthquakes in the past 7 days
• 4 earthquakes in the past 30 days
• 158 earthquakes in the past 365 days

What is an earthquake and what causes them to happen? | U.S. Geological Survey (usgs.gov)

Media Guide: Earthquakes in Iran — American Iranian Council (us-iran.org)

Week 2 Tectonic plates and boundaries in Iran

    

What Is a Tectonic Plate Boundary?

The surface of the earth is composed of about 20 tectonic plates, enormous sections of Earth’s crust that roughly fit together and meet at places called plate boundaries. Plate boundaries are important because they are often associated with earthquakes and volcanoes.

The Iranian Plate is a small tectonic plate thought to underlie the Persian plateau, covering the modern-day countries of Iran and Afghanistan, and parts of Iraq and Pakistan. It is compressed between the Arabian Plate to the southwest, the Eurasian Plate to the north, and the Indian Plate to the southeast.\

Iran is situated in a geologically complex region where several tectonic plates interact. Let’s explore the details:

Iranian Plate: The Iranian Plate is a small tectonic plate that underlies the Persian plateau. It covers modern-day Iran, Afghanistan, and parts of Iraq and Pakistan.

 The plate is compressed between three major neighboring plates: To the southwest, it meets the Arabian Plate. To the north, it interacts with the Eurasian Plate. To the southeast, it borders the Indian Plate. This compression has contributed to the formation of the Alborz and Zagros Mountains, resulting in the very mountainous terrain of the region1.

tectonic plates and boundaries in Iran - Search Images (bing.com)

Iran Geological Panorama

IRAN

With an area of 1,648,195 square kilometers (636,372 sq mi), Iran ranks seventeenth in size among the countries of the world. The topography of Iran consists of rugged, mountainous rims surrounding high interior basins.There are no major rivers in the country. Iran has a variable climate. In the northwest, winters are cold with heavy snowfall and subfreezing temperatures. Spring and fall are relatively mild, while summers are dry and hot. In the south, winters are mild and the summers are very hot, having average daily temperatures in July exceeding 38 °C (100.4 °F).

Mount Taftān, a massive cone reaching 13,261 feet (4,042 metres) in southeastern Iran, emits gas and mud at sporadic intervals. IRAN has the best Islamic architecture and some of the best people. Between the countries in theMiddle east and the world.

Best Places for Visit in Iran:

 Tehran

One of the top places to visit in Iran, Tehran is a busy metropolis set against the Alborz mountains. 

Tabriz

Rich in Azeri culture, Tabriz is known for its thriving bazaar and if you are looking for places for shopping in Iran.

Esfahan

The old Islamic buildings along with the Persian gardens give this city a beautiful appeal. The picture-postcard bridges are the highlight of this place in Iran.

Shiraz

Shiraz is known for poetry and wine. 

Mashhad

 Mashhad is a city worth visiting. Plan your holiday well because, during Muslim holidays, the city is completely booked months.

Yazd

 Yazd invites everyone to explore the maze of its lanes.

Kashan

An architectural gem, the archaeological findings say that the city was founded some eight thousand years ago.

Ahvaz

These bridges which have made the city famous are built over the river Karun.

Disaster Risk

Disaster risk is a product of a combination of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. Governance in the health system is a multifaceted sphere, with political, economic, and legal dimensions. The probabilistic natural disaster hazard zoning maps are provided through intensity assessment of mulltihazards. This provided a preliminary basis for geo-hazard risk mapping in Iran, including the vulnerability and popullation exposure. The most improtant geo-hazards involved in this study are earthquake, flood, landslide, and landsubsidence

Hazards:

Iran is in a region prone to many natural and manmade hazards. Hazards such as earthquakes, drought, and floods are the most important causes of death and economic damages.

Disasters:

Iran is a disaster-prone country that has experienced more than 250 natural disasters over the past century, including floods, earthquakes, droughts, storms, and others. 1 These disasters have affected more than 60 million people, killing at least 158,350, and causing an estimated damage of more than US$53 billion. 2 In the same period (1922–2021), Tehran and its neighboring provinces (Alborz, Markazi, Qazvin, and Qom) experienced 28 natural disasters, mainly floods and earthquakes, affecting around 11 million people, killing at least 55,769, and causing economic damages of about US$22 billion 

Catastrophes:

The quakes struck in quick succession, with the more powerful one measuring a magnitude of 6.4, the United States Geological Survey reported. Iranian news media said that the epicenters were near four smaller cities north of Tabriz: Ahar, Heris, Mehraban and Varzaqan.

Approximately 895,000 people in Iran have been internally displaced due to disasters since 2010.

Floods that hit Iran in 2019 “triggered more internal displacement than any other event at the regional level during that period,” a new report says. 

A couple sit in their destroyed house in Dahoueieh on the outskirts of Zarand, a town 35 miles northwest of Kerman, Iran on Wednesday Feb. 23, 2005. A powerful earthquake shook central Iran on Tuesday, destroying villages, killing at least several hundred people and injuring more than 1,000, state-run television reported. (AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian)

Bibliography: 

Disaster risk governance in Iran: Document analysis - PMC (nih.gov) 

natural dissater in iran - Search (bing.com)

Iran Earthquakes Leave 300 Dead - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Iranian earthquake death toll likely to reach 500 / Hopes for survivors dim as rain dampens mud-brick debris (sfgate.com)

8 Breathtaking Places To Visit In Iran -The Land Of Fables (traveltriangle.com)