TEHRAN – A total of 701 earthquakes have been recorded across the country over the past calendar month Azar (November 22-December 21), according to the Seismological networks of the Institute of Geophysics of the University of Tehran.

Sixteen earthquakes of more than 4 on the Richter scale have been recorded in the country by the National Seismological Center, the largest of which occurred on December 14, with a magnitude of 5.1 near Zahedan in Sistan-Baluchestan province.

Statistically, 614 earthquakes with magnitudes smaller than 3, and 71 earthquakes with magnitudes between 3 to 4 have occurred.

Sixteen earthquakes of more than 4 on the Richter scale have been recorded in the country. Among the provinces of the country, Khorasan Razavi with 94 earthquakes, Hormozgan with 78 earthquakes, and South Khorasan with 76 earthquakes recorded the highest number of earthquakes in the country.

Last month, 20 earthquakes jolted Tehran province, the largest of which occurred at a magnitude of 3.3 near Kilan region of Damavand.

The Iranian plateau is located in a very seismically active region of the world and is known not only for its major catastrophic earthquakes but also for the disasters relating to natural hazards, especially earthquakes.

About 2 percent of the earthquakes of the world occur in Iran but more than 6 percent of the victims of the world earthquakes, during the 20th century, are reported from Iranian earthquakes. This shows the high level of vulnerability in Iran, according to Mehdi Zare, a professor of engineering seismology.

Tehran is also one of the most hazardous metropolises in the world in terms of the risk of different natural disasters, such as earthquakes, floods, subsidence, drought, landslide, fire following an earthquake, etc.

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