TEHRAN – The third air rescue drill was held in Tehran on Thursday with the aim of improving the level of preparedness and coordination during probable earthquakes.

More than 15 specialized organizations attended the program which was held in 22 points of the metropolis that are highly prone to natural disasters, Tasnim reported.

Titled "Air rescue drill in the metropolis of Tehran at the time of crisis", the exercise was designed based on the scenario of an earthquake of magnitude 7 on the Richter scale in the northern fault of Tehran.

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.

Iran has entered a decade of earthquakes since the [Iranian calendar] year 1396 (March 2017- March 2018), as the Iranian plateau is shrinking by 30 millimeters per year, Mehdi Zare, professor of engineering seismology at the International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology (IIEES), has said.

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 Zare.

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.

On the other hand, Tehran has an over 8,300,000 nighttime population with a mixture of old non-resistant structures as well as modern high-rise buildings that affect the vulnerability of this city.

A total of 706 earthquakes have been recorded across the country over the past calendar month that ended on February 19, according to the Seismological networks of the Institute of Geophysics of the University of Tehran.

Of the total quakes, 16 had a magnitude of more than 4 on the Richter scale, the largest of which occurred on January 28 with a magnitude of 5.9 in the northwestern city of Khoy, ISNA reported.

Statistically, 614 earthquakes with magnitudes smaller than 3, 76 earthquakes with magnitudes between 3 and 4, 15 earthquakes with magnitudes between 4 and 5, and 1 earthquake with magnitudes between 5 and 6 have occurred in the country.

Among the provinces of the country, West Azarbaijan with 324 earthquakes, Khorasan Razavi, and South Khorasan with 65 and 45 earthquakes, respectively, recorded the highest number of earthquakes in the country.

Meanwhile, seven earthquakes were also recorded in Tehran province, the largest of which was near Firouzkouh with a magnitude of 3.3 on the Richter scale.

MG