Uecent destructive earth(Iuakes in the CentraI Alhorz (Iran) J. S. TCHALBè'iKO ("') Reeeived on Januarr 21st, }f173 SUMMARY . )lneroseislllic data hase(] on fieM work and biblio. .l!raphieal reseal'eh is given fol' six little·known destl'uctive eaTtlulunkes which occnrrrd in the Centrnl Alhorz, Iran, (Inring the 20th Ceutnry. Tlwr al'e: Ah-)Iobal'akabatl 1930, Albol'z 1935, Gnrll1snl' 194-3, Mus!Ja 1953, Sangcchal 1957 an(] Babol-Keuar 1971. Thc locations oi t!Jc two largest. of thcse cnl't.hquakes (1933, and H)57) wCl'e fortunatcly nt some tlistan('e Irolll the (Ieusely populatc(] l'egions oi Tcluan aIH] t!Jc constai towns oi the Caspian Sea. RIASSUNTO. -- Sono sbti raccolti Ilati macl'osisllliei, lllediaute ricel'dlC in loco e hihliogmfiche, mlativi a sei tcncllloti (]istl'uttivi poeo conosciuti che sono avvenuti nel XX secolo nella mgione (lell'AlllOl'z ccntrale (Imu). J,oea1itit. c(] anni sono i scguenti: Ah-Moba)'aknbnd, 1030; Alhol'z, ]\135; Gal'llls:tl', 10-1-5; l\lusha, 1953; Sangcchnl, H157; Babol-Kenal', 1971. I più loTti di questi tcnellloti (1935 1937) nvvennel'o fort.uuntalllente ad una cel'ta distanzn tlalle zone più deusalllente popolate di Tehel'!lll e (Ielle cittil. costiere del Ì\lrU' Caspio. 1. - INTRODUC'l'lON 'l'he stucly of the seismicity aI the CentraI Alborz mountains in Iran is of lmrtiClilar importance becalL~c the reb>'10n is bonlcl'cd by two oI thc mORt })opulatecl areas of thc countl';r, i.c. thc TeImm aggIu­ meration in the BOuth, amI thc coastal towns aI the Casllian Sca in (*) Engineering SeisulOlogy. Impel'ial College, LOIHlon sw7. .r. ~. TC U ALE'i"1) t.he n01't.h. l'et., due j"o a lack of rcliablc publislwtl nuwl'Oscismic dat.a, ver:') lil.tle iH knO"\YIl of thcHC cvents, even of 1.he more recent dcst.rue1:ivc oncs ,Yhich took Vlacc less than t.wo dccades ago. ,\fter about 1VGO, instrummltal detcl'lninations of earthquakes have inrrca,sed in aeeu1'aey, antl ncw mier08eismie t.w:hniques are lwillg aVVlied t.o thc Htu(ly of the sei8mieity of the Midtllc Ea8t (12,13.1,;.11), but the uncertitude in evieentral, del)th and magnitlUle detcnninations for Iran, eH]leeially fOl' thc earlier l)eriods, makeH il. increasingly inl]lortant, to aequirc aeclU'ate ma,eroseismie inIOl'lllation, at least for thc lal'ger destruetive events. 'l'he ]lresent note collates the infOl'luation ava,ibble on 6 dest1'ue­ tivc earthquakes which oeeulTed t.his etmtmy in the CentraI Albonl region of North-eentral Iran. Jt. is not an exlmustive eomvila./.ion, as morc dat.a, will no doubt be obtained from a, syst.mna./.ie study of the Persian press and literat.ure, and from fmlhcl' licld investigations. It is hoVed howevel' that this note may consti tute a starting voint IOl' Iutm'e research OJ] the lll'oblem. 2. - SOlffiCES CONSUI.'l'En Most oI thc existing lllaeroscismic tlata on t.hc earthquakes de­ seribed he1'e is contrt.ined in earthqun.kc catalogues (1~.2".23.~) which wcrc usually fOlllHl to bc too generaI for the l)resent study. Fur1:hel' inlormation was obtaincd 11'Om val'ious ]lUblishe(1 an(l un]lUbliHhed re]lorts, from Persian and ew'opean press reports, and frOln intcrvicws oI smvivors eOlHlucted by the alL1:hOl' in 1971 wit.h the help 01 H. Tran­ ma,nesh and 1\. ::'Ifohajer-1\slljai. The main somecs uswt in a,(l(lition to the cal'thqu.akc cataloglLCs a,rn aH follows: 1930 cal't7ulualw, Ficld :Mission (1971) and Etela'at (.3 Oet. 1930); 1935 cal'ihq-nakcs, Field Mission (19i1), Brit.iHh EmbasHr 1'e]lorts and Etela'at (20 l\]lril 1935); 1945 cara,qUiI},;C, Bozorgnia (o) and Etela'at (12 :May 1945); 1955 cal'thqtw.ke, PicM 1I1ission (Hlil), Rozorgnia (~) and lilt.ela'at (25 :SOV. 19;')5); Hò7 eart7uluakc, Vl'Olyk eO), Sa,vage (21) and Fichl Mission (1971); HJil cmihqua.kc, 'l'ehalenko, lmnmancsh a,nd Mohajer-Ashjai (2t). The imtl'wnentally (letel1nined parallletcrs of t.lle Cfutllquakes are given in 'l'able 1 and the locations a,mt a,rea8 eovercd by thc large Heale lllaps al'C shown in Pig. 1. ,.c',E____ ___________________ sl~~ ______________________ _"s~3:' ----------------------~~~' r 31'N c • , s • • p • -- o lO 20 30 40 50IIm Fi . J ".., _ 3 01 *, , ~----____L- ____~ _________________L __ ~~~ __~=2~3S' li'ig. 1. - Locn tioll of 20th C. DeHl'uet,iv e Enl' ( h q \lnk~R in !lw e('!ll raI Alh o!'~. - L. RC\g-iOll S allllv{' 1500 Il'L. - 2. In~tnt n H~!l tal cpie('llll"c. - 3. l'rìnl'iJl al rive!". _ ..I. ?Illjtlr rorl/T. - 5. Railro:ul. Imll,' I'l>! n·f,·. .. 1.0 ll LU I';; ~i ve ll in thc t llX I. ;" - .J)E STRL'C'I'1YE E,\It'l'IlQL',\ICE·t', 3.1. - Ah-lllobl1rnl""{l(Id E l/ J't1/qtM/ke, 1930 'T' hl'. eal'!llCIUfl,kil OCCUl'l'cii 011 :!:2lHI Odo!Jcl', 19:,0 !I.,t. 15"33 nq::; ' G:\T'['. Th('. in fl lnunenhll ('.piceu tre Wl1.S (]l'tCl'lllin <.> d by ISS at :~ i).g o X, :1:Ua :1 06 J. S. TClI ALE!->KO alH! thc nmg-llitude estimat.ed to lw ahuye 5 ('rabIe l). A fe'\' vil!agt's in t.lle .Ab-.Ali yalley (Fig. :! alH[ VI. Il \\"ere pmtly (h'st:.royed: in Ah, :!K houses cullavs('(! Hl1(! OIW VerHun '\'as killt,([; ill Sa]"pllrak most lluuses (;oIhl}lM,(! and t\\"o persons we]"e kill('d, alHI in ::\Iubarakabad (l'l. Il) a fcw hUll~eH colla}l~ed all(I HlH1I.\" otherH were sever('ly damag('(l. Furtllel" ~nn\y frum tlle p}litentTe, nw wa11H uf Hum(' lluuses in Damavand :l1ld l>Hshl-t' ::\IHZ:1]" werp fi,~sured; and in 'l'eIuHn, some qanats WCl"e (Iamage(l. Uruund frndures, prubably of Ialldslide urigin, 'n,n, repurtpd in tlle mounta,ins 1l00"th-ea,st of ::\lubarak:11Ja(1. Sume further (bnm!!!' was (;Hus('d tu l.lw vi11agcs mcntioll('([ ahuve h.\" lwo aftersllo('ks '\'llicll uCClun'd at abuut ;") minut.es interval on 7th ()ct01)('r, ]f}30, l11ld '\'hich '\'ere fplt in 'L'('lmlll, Firuzkuh, Ka,slmll a11(1 Santn.z. Ih,sjli1e its lo\\" magnitudt' alld tlw n'IHtiVt'ly slTwll amount of damag!' CaUile([, the carlliqualw i~ imjlOrblnt b('causp of ils jn'oximity t.u '['eluan alHI its Iucalion un tlle ::\Iuslla-l.'asham fallIt zone, a brandI of wllieh, the So]"tll Tellnm Fault, passes tllroug-ll the nortllern Hulmrhs of the cajlibtl (23). Pl. T - An·AJ.l V.\I.I.El" K = SarPllnlk; A = Ah. The largl1 bllihling with tlw whitc I"oof is the Ah-Ali (·asillo. Lookillg sOIlt.h (scc Fig. 2). Y!'r,\' little is knuwn of 11](' two !'lj.]'thquake~ whieh oe('.ulTed in t,he ~\Ibol'z mountuim ml,st, of the Talar H1Hl and {':m~t'd de~lnlCtion in Lhe Slmhi und SU1'i administ,1'utive LligtrieLs. The Iìr.~L shot'k whieh Louk phwe Oll lhe :jth Man'h J.f)36 al 101l2U m37·· G)IT was loml,ted ~),t 3U.2 o N R:-LO"E alHl had a nmgllihu[1' of [ess t.hul1 O (Tahle 1). '['h!' ]-'er~ianlll'ess amI the B1'iti.~h Embass,\' in Tehran staLel1 LhaL :t7 "illages we1'e aiYeeted and t,hat OVel' UO l)eople [ost theil' [ives. The seeond and more severe earthqun.ke, 011 the 11th Aprii, J.f)3:j n.1: :!:1"1.Jm,J!J ' , was loeatwl at 36.3"S, 53.5"J~ antl llatl ,l, magllitwlc o[ about (P/.j (Table 1). .\bout 50() 11e0111e WI'1'\' killl'a in this ca1'thquake, many mounL,t.1n "iHages wel'e aestroycLl and buihlin.c;s '\'ere damageLl il1 Sari allll Bamlar Shah, The 1'uihnl,y line ea~t of Sari was also .~Iightly aamaged Hl1d a [arge nwkfall wa~ r!']I01'ted at Lhe eonlIuenee of the l'l. Il - }loBAHAKAH,-\1J - Tlw Yillage or '1To])arakah,lll i8 at tlw hea(1 of tlw Ah-Ali valley \\'hie11 (,l'osses t Il(' ]lidlll'e from left tu l'ight. 'l'he sllhsi,liHl"'v valle.'.- ill t.lw left hu{'kg-l'ullwl lllill'kH the 11',1('c o)f the .\1I1sha·Fa8h~1ll bll[t ZOlle. Looking w(~st. (sel' Fig. 2). ~rdband Mobarai<abad/ Esi<era • Ab Ali 24 Nov 1955 . Tajanai< ~ . ., • Sarpurak '- /L1U~':;_-"'--__....J 2 Oct 1930 "-- 35.75"N Dash t -e /L1a ~ ar \ Rudehen;-............-<=-,- ' Ch eshmeh Demavand) . Go/hai< o , , , _ 1 ~ 2 _ 3 " ,. Fig. 2. - EJliePlltral R('gions (Of the Ah·'\I(Ohllrlll'lIhll<1 1930 all<l .\Iuslw 1955 Earthqual,ps. - \ . .\lnRha-l·'asham fault z(lnc. - 2. Tl'hr:\Il.;\mnl ]"(1[[(1. - 3. Riv('l'. 8h[[(I('<1 un'as ill<lientc alllll'oxilllnte limitR of damng:r. 'rable 1 - lNSTRUME::-ITAI. PARAlIfETER:'l FOR TBE DESTRUC'1'IVE EAR'l'11Q"LAKES 1:'< '1'11.8 CEN'1'RAL Al.BOHZ 'l'ime Epkmlt.]"(' FOl'al Dl'ptll Eartllqllakc I Dah' :'I[agllitmlc SOllrC{l (G;\[,l') " E Km Ah-:\r 1 1 I (]t) o llaral,alJa!l 2 Od. lO3() la 33 12 3,i.H ,i2.1 .5 / c 5 / 2 (*) s:-; 15 33 - 35.H 52.1 ., CCI' (' ) Alhurt, ,i :'I[ar.