The seisniicity of Iran. The Silakhor (Luristan) earthquake of 23rd Ianuary, 1909 (Part II)

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N. N. AMBRASEYS

Abstract

This paper shows t h a t given certain conditions it is perfectly
feasible to study an earthquake that occurred three-quarters of a
century ago in a remote part of the world. Also, it shows that there are
many large earthquakes which, because of lack of interdisciplinary efforts
to study such events, have remained hitherto little known or totally
unknown. The case of the Silakhor earthquake revealed deficiencies in the
determination of epicentres by ISS and Gutenberg; the difference between
macroseismic and instrumental position for the Silakhor earthquake is 380
kilometres, a difference which lias caused a serious problem in the assessment
of seisniicity of Iran. Accurate macroseismic d a t a may be used to minimize
bias in t h e instrumental relocation of the larger events and to study source
mechanisms. Untili this study was undertaken, the faulting associated
with the Silakhor earthquake was totally unknown. Even more important
t h a n the value of recent faulting for its significance in resolving ambiguities
in t h e choice of the t r u e source parametres, is the information that can be
gleaned from evidence for the mechanism of earthquakes that occurred
long before t h e advent of modern seismology and in particular, for the pattern
of recent tectonic activity.

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How to Cite
AMBRASEYS, N. N. (1974) “The seisniicity of Iran. The Silakhor (Luristan) earthquake of 23rd Ianuary, 1909 (Part II)”, Annals of Geophysics, 27(3-4), pp. 399–427. doi: 10.4401/ag-4931.
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