Extremely dangerous earthquake in Ilam province, Iran - 17,000 houses damaged - at least 415 injured

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This report was compiled with the cooperation of Jens Skapski
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Update August 20 08:01 UTC :  The number of wounded is now reported as 415
Iranian authorities have calculated that the damage inflicted by the earthquake swarm will be 1.16 trillion Iranian Rial or 43.6 million US$, but this ONLY for damage to government owned infrastructure.

Update 16:39 UTC :  The number of injuries is now 353

Update 08:23 UTC : Based on our experience and what we have seen in various pictures, we can conclude that almost every house in the region has sustained some degree of damage however only the poorest build houses have collapsed. This can be explained by the earthquake type of these earthquakes which was mainly compression (2 sides of the fault pushing against each other) In other parts of Iran, the main movement of the ground acceleration is horizontal (strike-slip faulting).   If the earthquake type here would have been strike-slip, the entire area would have been flattened (no wall upright anymore)!
The beach-ball image below (of the last aftershock) shows the mechanism who was responsible for the earthquake swarm More Information about beach-balls here

Update August 19, 08:10 UTC : The number of injured people increased to 332 (17 are still hospitalized)
- a very important castle in Delhoran (40 km from the epicenter) was 50% damaged after the series of powerful quakes
- The damage radius of the earthquake swarm is at least 50 km, mainly because of the different epicenters of the powerful aftershocks
- Medical teams are now fully operational in the greater epicenter area
- The population is so scared that they spend the whole night under the sky in open air and in temporary tenting shelters. The Iranian authorities are doing their best to reach all villages and provide tents but not everything can be done in 24 hours
- 55,000 bottles of water were distributed yesterday as the drinking water infrastructure is broken and as the tap water is not safe to drink anymore (if still available)
- 1500 hectares of Fruit Orchards have lost the fruit too soon. A side-effect of the continuous shaking is that the fruits fell of the trees on the ground making the harvest almost invalid. These orchards are economically very important for the region and will set owners and workers without income!
- A little while ago the Iranian press reported that 211 aftershocks have hit the greater epicenter area

People send the night on the sky because of aftershock fear - Image courtesy and copyright Mehrnews Iran

Update 22:45 UTC : ISNA reports that 17,000 houses were damaged to various extend. This was a nightmare earthquake swarm with aftershocks almost as powerful as the mainshock  Many of the shaking waves were even felt in Kuwait. For many people M6.1 and M5.7 looks like "not that heavy". Well we can tell all of our readers thats what happened today in Iran was a war-zone. The prevailing earthquake type in Iran is a shallow mainly horizontal movement. We are detecting serious damage in Iran from M4 on. I truly hope for the Iranians that the aftershocks will go down both in intensity and in number.

Update 18:34 UTC : Another increase in injured people, from 260 to 317. It is more and more a miracle that these continuing aftershocks have not led to fatalities.

Update 18:27 UTC : USGS has decreased the Magnitude of the aftershock to M5.7 still very powerful and damaging

Update 18:22 UTC : We got a boost of readers coming from Kuwait. Thank you for telling us what kind of shaking you have felt and whether you have damage or not !

Update 18:19 UTC : USGS is now reporting M6.0 almost equal to the mainshock this morning. We expect an almost total devastation of all the villages in the greater epicenter area (radius about 25 km had the biggest risk)

Update 18:16 UTC : We have incoming reports of a new powerful aftershock with a preliminary Magnitude of M5.8! The last aftershock is the Red icon on the map (more to the south).

Update 16:14 UTC : No new data in the Iranian press. We will follow up and write new updates if necessary

Update 13:06 UTC : 10,000 houses damaged to various extend

Update 12:56 UTC : These are very poor villages. The heat in the afternoon goes up to 45 °C! People have to survive in harsh living conditions; Ground is kept fertile with the little water they have but the water system collapsed earlier today. Telecommunications are still down in the greater epicenter area and we are not sure yet that all villages within the danger zone have been reached. So far we keep 0 fatalities (we have knowledge of only 2 severely injured people, which is great looking at what happened (reasons below).

Update 12:43 UTC : This is the first video we can show to our readers but the damage is only the damage after the first mainshock (Monday). The M6.1 earthquake was followed by numerous aftershocks, some of them very powerful and certainly adding to the already inflicted damage

Update 12:00 UTC : New reports are mentioning 8000 houses damaged to various extend !

Update 11:58 UTC : A new very strong and powerful aftershock measuring M5.7 hit the epicenter area. We are convinced that the massive damaged already inflicted will be considerably worsened by this aftershock. We do not fear for the people however as they will be normally staying outside. Our special attention goes now to the Search and Rescue services who have to work in these dangerous and delicate conditions !

Update 09:57 UTC : Abdanan’s regional governor told Mehr News local correspondent that drink water and temporary housing of victims of the quake were two ‘urgent needs of people in the region.'
“70-80 per cent of houses and buildings in Murmuri have sustained damages,” added the governor. Mehr News correspondent reports that the most urgent needs of victims are lack of tents, mineral drink water and temporary housing under extreme heat of 50 degrees Celsius.

Image courtesy and copyright Presstv.com Iran

Update 08:35 UTC : An very big jump in injured damaged houses was just reported in Iran : The new numbers are 260 injured (120 have been discharged from the hospitals already) and hundreds of houses have collapsed or damaged to various degrees. This is only an intermediate report. We hope that the numbers will no longer increase but we fear that not all the rural villages have been reached as yet. So far not 1 person killed. People will have lost all their goods and properties but are still alive, this thanks to the 2 initial earthquakes yesterday. Because of these Sunday earthquakes people took precautions and spend much time outside their houses. The Iranian Search and Rescue services and the Iranian Red Crescent are doing all they can to minimize the suffering of the people

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Update 08:14 UTC : Below an overview of the aftershocks since the last 3 hours. The table means that people in the earthquake area are living through constant shaking. All the displayed aftershocks will have been felt by the people in the greater epicenter area. The total number of aftershocks (including the weaker ones) will be much much more (at least +100)

Update 07:48 UTC : The quake destroyed telecommunications department in the city of Abdanan in the province making it impossible to estimate the amount of damages inflicted on the city’s rural areas.  Governor of Abdanan Majid Asgari said that rural areas suffered heavy damage by the strong quake, adding that some villages were totally destroyed.

Image courtesy and copyright diyarmirza.ir

Update 07:10 UTC : 97 people injured - The good news is still that we have nobody killed so far!

Update 07:00 UTC :  80 people injured

Update 06:17 UTC : The earthquake was well felt in 4 Iranian provinces

Update 06:17 UTC : 20 ambulances and 2 helicopters are deployed to the epicenter area by the Iranian Red Crescent agency (affiliated to the International Red Cross). The governor of the Ilam province made an overflight of the hardest hit areas by helicopter in order to deploy the search, rescue and relief support at the most needed locations.

Update 06:09 UTC : We are happy to report that we have no sign of any fatalities. Let's hope it will remain like this. 61 people injured so far.

Update 06:01 UTC : The town of Murmuri (684 families following the 2006 census) has been devastated to 70%

Image courtesy and copyright Tasnim Iran

Update 05:47 UTC : The image below shows the many aftershocks in relation to the centered mainshock. The different colors are showing the shaking intensities - darker is stronger shaking

Update 05:38 UTC : According to the governor the main road towards the epicenter has been blocked by multiple landslides (see the irna image below). Maintenance teams are under way to clear the roads but as you can see on this image this will not be an easy task!

Update 05:32 UTC : A VERY STRONG aftershock of M5.7 just happened and has been felt until Kuwait. This aftershock will make the havoc even worse. Lets hope that no rescue personnel will have been injured while trying to help other people.

Update 05:29 UTC : A further increase to 60 injuries

Update 05:15 UTC : New data from the rescue agencies. So far 51 people injured. 3 of the injured are in critical condition. 25 people are treated in a hospital

Update 05:05 UTC : We are getting reports that 8 villages are severely damaged (luckily this is a sparsely populated area)

Update 04:52 UTC : Injury toll increased to 50 - huge damage and rescue helicopters have been send to the Murmuri area

Update 04:46 UTC : The director of the Red Crescent agency in the Ilam province said that a lot of infrastructure has been damaged (roads to Murmuri are closed to normal traffic). He told reporters that until now 40 people were injured and he reiterates what we already said earlier, that the 2 Sunday earthquakes might have been the luck of the people as many stayed outside their houses.

Update 04:42 UTC  : Iranian Mehrnews wrote a little while ago : Six rescue teams are deployed to the region to evaluate damages and casualties. There are no reports of exact number of casualties yet. Mehrnews correspondent in the nearby region says roads to the quake-stricken area are closed and so far 20 people have been injured and some buildings are damaged.  Earlier, less than 12 hours before that, another quake with 5.0 magnitude had stricken same area with its epicenter just 10 kilometers away. Several tremors have shaken the region since Sunday afternoon local time.

Update 04:35 UTC : The earthquake was felt until Kuwait. There are currently a lot of aftershocks in the epicenter area

Update 04:28 UTC :  The governor of the Iran, Ilam province reports that that many houses have been damaged.
The number of injured people we has risen to 40, 7 of them have been transported to a nearby hospital.
We expect that most people have stayed outside their houses due to 2 prior moderate earthquakes in exactly the same area yesterday.
The good news is also that search and rescue personnel will have been already in Murmuri due to the other earthquakes yesterday.

Update 04:18 UTC : So far we have detected 6 injuries (first report but the numbers will certainly increase), more details later

Update 04:17 UTC : According the GDACS the population density in regard to the epicenter is as follows :
100 km    1.1 million people
75 km    400000 people
50 km    140000 people
20 km    6300 people
10 km    1700 people
5 km    <1000 people
2 km    <1000 people
ER expects a radius of 20 km vulnerable for huge damage (about 6300 people)

Update 04:01 UTC : At the 2006 census, the population of Murmuri, the town just on top of the epicenter was 3,491, in 684 families

Landscape in the direct epicenter area - Image courtesy and copyright Ali Majdfar

Update 03:49 UTC : ER calls Murmuri as a huge risk for collapsed houses. Damage would certainly extend tot a radius of 50 km which means that towns like Mosian and Dehloran would deal in the misery but we do however not expect fatalities in these cities.

Update 03:46 UTC : The Iranian seismological agency has reported a Mn6.1 at a depth of 10 km, alarming numbers.
The distance from nearby villages is as follows :
3 Km of Murmuri, Ilam
36 Km of Mosian, Ilam
41 Km of Dehloran, Ilam

Update 03:38 UTC : Prof. Max Wyss has calculated a theoretical number of 20 to 400 people injured and 0 to 200 fatalities. We expect a lot of serious damage with at least a lot of collapsed houses.

Update : No precise numbers yet of the injured and the damage. Normally they would look very dark en grim as a +M6 earthquake in Iran would be almost certainly turn deadly however this earthquake might be different. Reason : 2 other earthquakes yesterday measuring M4.6 and M5.0. We expect that most people have stayed outside their houses out of aftershocks fear which would be their lucky chance to escape a tragedy.

36km (22mi) SE of Abdanan, Iran
37km (23mi) E of Dehloran, Iran
78km (48mi) WNW of Dezful, Iran
81km (50mi) NW of Shush, Iran
312km (194mi) ESE of Baghdad, Iraq

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