TEHRAN – A total of 529 earthquakes have been recorded across the country over the past calendar month (April 21- May 21), according to the Seismological networks of the Institute of Geophysics of the University of Tehran.

Of the total 529 quakes, 8 were more than 4 on the Richter scale, the largest of which occurred on May 22, with a magnitude of 4.6 in the central province of Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari.

Statistically, 463 earthquakes with magnitudes smaller than 3, and 58 earthquakes with magnitudes between 3 to 4 have occurred. At least 8 earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.5 to 5 have occurred in the country.

Among the provinces of the country, Khorasan Razavi with 74 earthquakes, Kerman with 53 earthquakes, and Yazd with 51 earthquakes recorded the highest number of earthquakes in the country.

Some 2 earthquakes were also recorded in Tehran province, the largest of which was near Robat Karim with a magnitude of 2.3 on the Richter scale.

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 is 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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