Qualla: 1979 Ghaenat Earthquakes

1979 Ghaenat Earthquakes: Introduction

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. At 5:51 in the morning on November 14, 1979, the adults of Qaen County were already outside. It was saffron harvest season in this remote corner of northeastern Iran, near the Afghan border, and the delicate purple crocuses had to be picked before the sun climbed too high. The earthquake that struck at magnitude 6.6 collapsed mud-brick homes across dozens of villages. The adults survived. Most of the dead were young children, still sleeping inside while their parents worked the fields. Thirteen days later, a second quake hit even harder.

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Image: Mikenorton | CC BY-SA 3.0

1979 Ghaenat Earthquakes: Where Continents Collide

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Uwe Dedering, CC BY-SA 3.0. The landscape of northeastern Iran is deceptive. The arid plains and scattered villages of Qaen County give little surface indication of the violence happening below. Iran sits within the Alpide belt, an active mountain-building zone that runs from the Atlantic to Southeast Asia....

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Image: Uwe Dedering | CC BY-SA 3.0

1979 Ghaenat Earthquakes: The Korizan Quake

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. The November 14 earthquake, known as the Korizan earthquake, ruptured the Abiz Fault at shallow depth with a moment magnitude of 6.6. The right-lateral strike-slip motion produced visible displacement at the surface and shook the region at Modified Mercalli intensity VIII, classi...

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Image: Mikenorton | CC BY-SA 3.0

1979 Ghaenat Earthquakes: Thirteen Days Later

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. On November 27, a second and more powerful earthquake struck along the Dasht-e-Bayaz Fault with a moment magnitude of 7.1 to 7.2, the strongest seismic event in the area since 1968. Modified Mercalli intensity reached X, classified as Extreme. The epicenter sat at the eastern end...

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Image: Mikenorton | CC BY-SA 3.0

1979 Ghaenat Earthquakes: A Landscape That Remembers

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. The 1979 Ghaenat sequence was not the end. The southern section of the Abiz Fault that ruptured on November 14 would break again during the devastating 1997 Qayen earthquake, which reached magnitude 7.3 and killed over 1,500 people. The entire length of the Abiz Fault ruptured in...

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Image: Mikenorton | CC BY-SA 3.0