TEHRAN – Nearly 500 earthquakes have been recorded across the country over the past calendar month (March 21-April 21), according to the Seismological networks of the Institute of Geophysics of the University of Tehran.

Of the total 495 quakes, 7 were more than 4 on the Richter scale, the largest of which occurred on April 17, with a magnitude of 4.4 in the central province of Yazd.

About 2 percent of the earthquakes in the world occur in Iran. Statistically, 439 earthquakes with magnitudes smaller than 3, and 49 earthquakes with magnitudes between 3 to 4 have occurred. At least 7 earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.5 to 5 have occurred in the country.

Among the provinces of the country, Khorasan Razavi with 56 earthquakes, Kerman with 46 earthquakes, and South Khorasan with 41 earthquakes recorded the highest number of earthquakes in the country.

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 in the world occur in Iran but more than 6% 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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