Earthquakes and coseismic surface faulting on the Iranian Plateau : a historical, social and physical approach

745 Pages·2014·85.44 MB·English

by  Manuel Berberian

DEVELOPMENTS IN EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES, 17
SERIES EDITOR -J.F. SHRODER JR
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Foreword
Manuel Berberian, an Iranian-Armenian geologist and earthquake seismolo-
gist,isresponsibleformuchofwhatweknowaboutthegeologyandtectonics
of Iranian earthquakes. In addition to field study of Iranian earthquakes and
surfacefaulting,BerberianbeganstudyingthearchaeologyandhistoryofIran
to use that rich record to expand the knowledge of Iranian earthquakes and
activefaultsandtheirhazardstosociety.HebecameapioneerinIranianplate
tectonics, active tectonics, and seismicity.
Berberian’scurrentworkisacontinuationofhislong-termcommitmentto
using science and engineering to make his native country a safer place for its
citizens. Manuel and I are working on improving understanding of the earth-
quakehazardtothemegacityofTehran.HismanuscriptonEarthquakesand
Coseismic Surface Faulting on the Iranian Plateau: A Historical, Social,
andPhysicalApproachislikelytobeamajorcontributiontoabetterunder-
standing of the hazards facing Iran.
Robert Yeats
Professor Emeritus of Geology and Geophysics
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR
In their pioneering 1982 account, A History of Persian Earthquakes, Nicolas
Ambraseys and Charles Melville established meticulous procedures for
merging archival records and inscriptions documenting former earthquakes,
instrumental seismic data, and field observations of ground rupture and shak-
ing damage in Iran. The result was a benchmark history of 389 earthquakes
from the earliest times to 1979, that superseded all previous works on the
seismicity of Iran, and which for three decades has been upheld as an inter-
disciplinary masterpiece that few thought could be surpassed.
In the present work, Manuel Berberian not only adds to and updates
the seismic record but brings new insights to the study of earthquakes in
Iran.Thepastthirtyyearshasseenthedevelopmentofpaleoseismologywhich,
through the exhumation of surface faults has extended the earthquake record
into pre-history. Digital topography and advances in structural geology have
extended our spatial understanding of the structures on which earthquakes
occur,andthepastthreedecadeshavealsoseenadvancesindigitalseismology,
and space geodesy (GPS and Insar) that have permitted a glimpse at
thesubsurfaceprocessesunderlyingandaccompanyingearthquakesinIran.
xxi
xxii Foreword
The industry contained within this new work on the seismicity of Iran is
abundantlyclearinthedetailedstudiesofindividualearthquakes.Inalifetime
of dedicated study, Berberian has more than doubled the number of archival
earthquakesdescribedbyAmbraseysandMelvilleandhascriticallyevaluated
previous accounts to reconcile historical data with known geological struc-
tures and newly available historical sources. Entries include a careful evalua-
tion of commonly quite scant data, supported in places by extensive field
observations by the author, incurred amid remarkable hardships caused by
wars, persecution, and regime changes in Iran.
TheimportanceofthecurrentworktothepeopleofIrancannotbeunder-
estimated.Inthepast100years,thedeathtollpercapitafromearthquakeshas
beenthehighestintheworld,duetoanunfortunatecombinationofgeograph-
ical earthquake productivity and a societal indifference to the earthquake
resistanceofthevillagesandtownsofIran.Despitetherecognitionofseismic
risks to its population and the loss of almost 164,000 lives in the past several
decades,theleadershipofIranhasyettomandateubiquitousearthquakeresis-
tance to its dwellings and civic structures. It is to be hoped that the present
work will provide Iran a factual fabric on which to formulate wise decisions
concerning its inescapable seismic future. If its construction industry con-
tinues to ignore Iran’s seismic past, many thousands more deaths from earth-
quakes will assuredly occur.
Roger Bilham
Professor of Geological Sciences
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO
Editorial Foreword
Thisbookis anexhaustive analysis ofseismicityonthe IranianPlateau,and it
providesawealthofinformationthatDr.ManuelBerberianhascompiledfrom
hisvastexperienceintheregion.Hisknowledgeofandaccesstotheextensive
ancient documents of Persia have allowed him to compile a superb record of
ancient earthquakes. He has been working on this project for much of his life,
with the intention of creating a descriptive catalogue of earthquakes in Iran
from ancient times to the present day, and the data informing this book were
collected during the last 42 years of his field work and research in the region.
The Iranian plateau has a record of documented earthquakes that is many
times longer than the records of most other regions, and that comprehensive
record has added to the world’s seismic database. Such a long-term record
combines individual human memory with geological data that extends even
farther into the past, and as a result, it is invaluable because it enables an
increased understanding of a process with a time scale so far out of synchro-
nicity or harmony with short-term human endeavors. If more well-executed
interpretations of the geological record are added to this understanding
through the interpretation of trenches excavated across the profuse stratigra-
phy of buried fault scarps, scientists will continue to elucidate the mechanics
and timing of the seismic activities at these important sites.
Dr. Berberian was born in an ethnic and religious minority community in
Iran, which he always thought was the wrong country for parents who barely
escaped the Armenian massacre of 1915, in a region known for disgustingly
harsh treatmentofits minorities.Nonetheless,inspiteofthese apparenthandi-
capsanddetriments,andwithEnglishbeinghisfifthlanguage,hehasdedicated
hislife’sworktoinformingandpossiblyevensavingpeoplefromthehugeand
pervasiveseismicriskspresentedbytheactivefaultzonesinwhichtheylive.He
feelsthat,ifhecansaveevenonelife,thenthataccomplishmentwouldperhaps
beababystepforward.Yet,healsonotesthatonelifeisinfinitesimalwhencom-
pared tothe 164,000 liveslostduringthe pastcentury.Dr. Berberian’shopeis
thatgovernmentsinthedevelopingworldwillwakeupanddosomethingbetter
fortheircitizens,andinthisbook,heshowsthatitiscertainlypossible.
I was also pleased to see the information and opinions provided by
Dr. Berberian about the basic fatalistic incompetence of the existing Iranian
government, apparently because of cultural–religious–political issues that, in
combination,havecausedtheunnecessarydeathsofthousandsofinnocentpeo-
ple.Dr.Berberianhasalsorelatedthatthesamesituationappliesinneighboring
Afghanistan,almostall ofthe Middle East, and all of the so-called developing
countries around the world. In particular, he has noted to me that, because
xxiii
xxiv EditorialForeword
Afghanistan is an extremely poor country, such problems might be more
expected, but Iran is not so poor. Thus, one might think that, in a country as
wealthy as Iran, conditions of seismic safety have been greatly improved,
but they havenot.Thislack of governmentaction isa tragedy of considerable
proportions that is constantly unfolding, as the next big seismic event in
Iran will surely generate additional hundreds to thousands of needless deaths.
Dr. Berberian’s exhaustive analysis of seismicity on the Iranian Plateau does
provide a rather strong indictment of the Iranian government’s incompetence
tohandleacommonnaturalhazardthatexistsintheregion.Incontrasttomany
other developed countries that pay attention to seismic hazards and engineer
their way around many such problems, Iran instead seems to stay mired in
corruption, lethargy, and incompetence, so that its earthquake hazard is appar-
entlylargelyignored.ThiscertainlycallsintoquestiontheideathattheIslamic
Iranian Revolution was intended to help the people of Iran. The problem of
earthquake safety might be addressed more properly in future, however,
because, to their credit, the Iranian clerics of today seem to regard education
as a universal good (Axworthy, 2013; Secor, 2014). Perhaps with the pub-
lication of this work, they will be able to find more state mechanisms to
employ in overcoming their cultural–religious fatalism and resistance. Instead
of continuing the old patterns, they might begin to improve and apply seismic
zoning and even build more seismically resistant buildings.
BecauseDr.BerberianisnotanativespeakerofEnglish,hehasdoneasuperb
job of pulling all this material together in one place, while translating obscure
sources.Throughthisbook,wecanseethatthisishislife’swork.Heisintensely
devotedtoit,andheknowsmoreaboutthetopicthanprobablyanyothersingle
person in the world. Thus, this book is an important scientific contribution in
whichIamhappytohavebeeninvolved.Thebook’smanyexcellentlyrendered
graphicsandphotographsofseismicdamagesandfault-relatedgeomorphologies
add much to the understanding of the active faults in Iran. Many pages of this
bookarealsodedicatedtocoseismicsurfacefaultingandblind-fault-relatedfold-
ingatthosefaults,addingconsiderablescientificvalueandunderstandingofthe
phenomena.Thisbookhasthepotentialtobecomeawell-knownprimarysource
onanessentialtopicforatremendouslyactiveseismicregion.Forthesereasons,
thisisanimportantworkaboutapartoftheworldinwhichheandIhavehada
longinterest,andthebookshoulddowellbecauseitissuchathoroughcompen-
diumofthatimportantmaterial.
John F. Shroder, Jr.
Editor in Chief
Developments in Earth Surface Processes
Preface
Out beyondtheideasofwrong-doingandright-doing,
Thereisafield.Iwillmeetyouthere.
MaulaviRumi(1207–1273)
ThesacredAvestanandthePahlavitexts,1aswellaslaterPersianandArme-
nian literature, are rich in the portrayal of human beings in relation to the
forcesofnatureduringthetimethatnaturewasconsideredthearenainwhich
the divine became visible.
According to the ancient Zoroastrian complex cosmogony, addressed
briefly in the extant Avesta¯ and the Pahlavi texts rooted in traditions dating
back to at least 1200 BCE, the sacred planet Earth2 was the third good crea-
tion of “Ahura¯ Mazda¯/Ohrmazd” (lit., “the Wise Lord”) after the “sky” and
the“water.”Overtime,andasaresultofthethirdassaultonthegoodcreation
by the evil spirit (Ahriman), the demons (Div; the same word as in “divine”
and “deity”) rushed in, the Earth quaked, and the essence of the mountains
was created in the Earth. As the first mountain range, the Alborz,3 grew, all
the mountains remained in “motion.” Like the growth of a tree, mountains
grew up to the clouds and down underground from the original flat surface
oftheEarth;themountainrootswereconnectedtoeachother(cf.,themodern
concept of orogeny [mountain building] in tectonics).
TheEarthandallthatisonit,suchas“water,”“fire,”“soil,”and“air”(the
four primordial elements of ancient Zoroastrian Iran, ca. 1200 BCE), is con-
sidered a sacred manifestation of Ahura¯ Mazda¯; therefore, all elements are
“sacred”andprecious,homageisrenderedtoeveryangeltowhosecarethese
are entrusted, and thanks are offered to the Court of the great Creator. At the
end of time, the active planet Earth will be flattened by earthquakes and ero-
sion; no longer will there be mountain peaks or valleys.
The ancient view of an active sacred planet (with creation and evolution
of mountain belts by orogenic forces and movements, shaking of the Earth
caused by evil spirits and storm-demons, and an ultimate apocalyptic erosion
and leveling process of the mountains by earthquakes) is a remarkable
☆“Toviewthefullreferencelistforthebook,clickhere.”
1. Bondeheshn(Bundahishn),Menog-e-Kherad,andSelectionsofZa¯dSparam.
2. Zem,A¯rmaiti;MotherEarth.
3. Pahlavi:Harburz;Avestan:Hara¯Berezaiti;lit.,the“LoftyWatchpost,”themythicalmountain
inYasht19.1&GreaterBondeheshn.IX.1.
xxv
xxvi Preface
observationthathassurvivedsinceca.1200BCE(seeBoyce,1989fordating
theperiod).Theseexpressionsandvisionsofantiquitywereconceivedduring
the time that people lived a free and independent life in open nature. They
revealanearlyawarenessoflivinginaseismicallyactiveregion;suchknowl-
edgemusthavebeenachievedbytheclosesurveillanceofsuccessivechanges
on the active Earth by people who lived in reasonable harmony with nature,
some of whom suffered from the frequent destruction caused by earthquakes.
ThesepeopleobservedamechanisminsidetheactiveandlivingEarth,which
they defined as an evil spirit and demon, that caused fundamental deforma-
tionsthat continuously shapedand changedthe surface ofthe Earth(geologi-
cal processes in modern geology).
SimilarobservationsrootedinancientIranianculturecanbefoundatlater
times by master poets Ferdowsi and Rumi. For example, in the beginning of
the Persian masterpiece Sha¯hna¯meh (1010), Ferdowsi Tusi wrote:
Mountainsgrewandwater appeared;
Theplantsgrewupwardaswell;
TheEarthdidnothavemountainsearlier;
Itwasablackanddarkcenter.
Later, Maulana¯ Jalal U’ddin Rumi (1207–1273),4 writing about Qa¯f
Mountain,5 mentioned that, despite looking stable, the connected mountains
around the world are active and remain in motion:
WhenHesays‘Enough!’myveinrests,
Iam(apparently)atrest,butactuallyIaminrapid motion.
Atrest,likethe(medicinal)ointment,andveryactive (efficacious),
Atrest,liketheintellect, whilethespeech(impelled)byit ismoving.
The extant Avesta¯ and the Pahlavi texts are viewed here as treatises on spiri-
tual secrets and an early understanding of nature in general—and the active
sacred planet Earth, specifically, in antiquity—and not as religious texts.
The investigation, which I present in the following pages of this book (Part
One) is therefore centered upon very ancient myths and folk epics and
addresses the psychology of the shaking of the sacred active planet Earth by
evil spirits/demons as well as its social impacts on, and psychology of, the
commingled inhabitants of Greater Iran6 and Armenia on the Iranian plateau
throughout several millennia. It covers all the human aspects of earthquakes
andIranianandArmenianbehaviorandthoughtsfromantiquitytothepresent
day, which has mostly survived by word of mouth and been transmitted from
one generation to another by village bards. Part 1 of the book, consequently,
4. Mathnavi-eMa’navi,BookIV:9;Nicholson(1926).
5. ThemythicalAlborzMountain;referstothepresentElbrus(Alborz)MountainintheCaucasus.
6. LandofIran(syn.,Ira¯nshahr(CountryofIran));theIranianplateauwiththeA¯rmenianHigh-
landsandtheCaucasus;theGreaterIranduringtheAchaemenidEmpire(550-330BCE).
Preface xxvii
embarks upon the difficult task of understanding the myths, legends, folk
epics, early interpretations, and facts that have survived in Iran despite the
mixture of the blood of its inhabitants with different cultures and religions
during successive incursions and conquests (conquests apparently became an
inherited industry of the Middle East).
Rural traditions in Iran and Greater Armenia are full of myths, legends,
nationalepics,folkloreandstoriesaboutearthquakes—thedynamicandphys-
ical phenomena associated with them and their social, cultural, and religious
inferences since antiquity. Actual geological phenomena of a different era
were referred to or explained as epical or mythological events. These events
fluctuated between reality and mythology; thus, it is impossible and inappro-
priate to incorporate these references into chronological contexts. In view of
the limited reliability of some of the sources, which refer to ancient myths,
legends, epics, and oral traditions, it is impossible to reach any firm conclu-
sion about the date, the site, and/or in some cases, the nature of the events.
In order to understand the present Iranian psyche regarding earthquakes and
theIranian’sacceptanceofdoctrineoffatalismdespitelarge-scaledestruction
and unfathomable death tolls, we need to review Part 1 of this study.
Althoughrelicsofthemythsandlegendsarestilltraceableinthebeliefs,cus-
toms, and folknarratives, modernscholarshavenot carried out any systematic
andin-depthmyth/folktalefieldcollections,orsurveyandanalysisoftheearly
Arab-, Armenian-, and later European-travelers’ reports, on this specific issue.
The rapid urbanization of the counties in Iran and Armenia since the mid-
twentieth century has brought about the speedydisappearance ofancient tradi-
tions, popular beliefs and songs, customs, habits, folktales, and myths. I was
encouragedbytheabsenceofaregionalsystematicstudyonEarth-relatedfolk-
loretocreateapreliminarydatabaseforfurtherin-depthresearchandstudyby
theyounggenerationsaboutlifeontheGreaterIranianplateau.
I have tried to review different aspects of earthquakes and active faulting
from the Pleistocene geomorphological changes to ancient myths to present
examples. An understanding of the young geomorphological records and
ancient metaphoric references to earthquakes embedded in our myths,
legends, folklore, epics, and linguistic traces referring to prehistoric events
mayhelpusupdateournaturalhazardsstudyprogramsaswellasraisesocial
awareness of the potential earthquakes and active faulting that could cause
heavy loss of life and property. This book is not a catalog of earthquakes. It
isaimedatimprovingourknowledgeonhumanitariancrisesandhumansecu-
rity as well as socioenvironmental relations at local, national, regional, and
internationallevelsbyanalyzingbasicinformationofearthquakesandcoseis-
mic surface ruptures within its historical scientific and social context.
Earthquakes on the Greater Iranian plateau have been intertwined with
and influenced the culture, religion, philosophy, history, and political percep-
tions of the region’s inhabitants since antiquity; they have reverberated in
people’s affairs with severe repercussions. Although the economic damage of
xxviii Preface
devastatingearthquakestotheregionandsocietyisincalculable,theyhavealso
had a catastrophic role in shaping the course of development and then decline
ofcitiesandvillagesthateventuallyfadedintoobscurity.Earthquakesandinva-
sions have been the catalyst for decline of numerous places in the region
through high death tolls and great destruction of human infrastructure and
resources. Therefore, there is a growing need for a better understanding of
regional earthquakes, active faults and folds, and seismic hazards. Due to the
scarcity of firsthand data from past events, the interdisciplinary geological
records of the Quaternary, coupled with the extant myths and archeological
data,havebeenusedtoreviewearthquake-triggeredhazards,especiallycoseis-
mic surface faulting of the past, and raise awareness of the importance of the
extant fragmentary documents in the reconstruction of the past events. This
becomesvitalwhenwerealizethatinmostdevelopingcountriespronetoearth-
quakes, most inhabitants have been migrating to large cities and mega-cities
built in the vicinity of active fault zones holding a high risk of earthquakes.
Ibelievethatanearthquakescientistworkinginareaswithancientculture
and civilization, like the greater Iranian plateau and Armenia, should have
basic regional knowledge of mythology, archeology, theology, history, litera-
ture,andculture.Hence,whenrequired,Ihave appliedarcheological,histori-
cal, religion, literature and social data for better analyses of the discussed
entries.Ihavetriedtodevelop abodyofsocialbeliefs, structure,andactivity
in reference to earthquakes and coseismic surface faulting in the pursuit of
socialwelfare.AlthoughIdonotconsidermyselfanexpertinallthesefields,
I do know Earth sciences. This book, therefore, presents the scientific and
social aspects of earthquake geology and active tectonics in an exploration
of the impacts of earthquakes on human development and evolution through-
out a very long regional history.
Inthecourseofmyinvestigation,Iwasnotabletoconsult solelyprimary
references. I have emphasized quoted texts extracted from the firsthand
sources (when available) in italics, nesting them within double quotation
marks in the main body of the text. My intention is to emphasize that this is
sourcedatawithoutchangesand/orcorruptions,justtranslation.Whereneces-
sary, explanations are added within square brackets.
I must also point out some personal issues that have definitely influenced
the outcome of all my publications, including the present work. First, the
reader should consider the limitations within which I have worked in a
politically volatile, developing country with little access to proper libraries,
computer facilities, technical publications, professionals, and mentors.
Secondly, as with my all previous works, research for this book was not sup-
ported by grants, organizations, or personal moral encouragement. This book
was not the subject of different dissertations prepared by research students
working under my supervision. Bear in mind that English is not my first lan-
guage; it is the fifth language that I speak (in chronological order of learning
and proficiency).