1961 Fars earthquake
1961 earthquake in southern Iran
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The 1961 Fars earthquake struck southern Fars province, Iran, on June 11. The Mw 6.4 earthquake occurred at 05:10:28 UTC, or 08:40 local time, with an epicenter approximately 44 km (27 mi) east-northeast of Gerash.[1] It killed 60 people and destroyed approximately 500 houses in and around Dehkuyeh, Lar, and several neighboring settlements.[3] Two substantial aftershocks followed later the same day.[2]
  Location of the epicenter in Iran | |
| UTC time |
|
|---|---|
| ISC event | |
| USGS-ANSS | |
| Local date |
|
| Local time |
|
| Magnitude | |
| Depth |
|
| Epicenter | 27.861°N 54.528°E |
| Areas affected | Fars province, Iran |
| Aftershocks | Mw 5.7 and Mw 5.6 on June 11[2] |
| Casualties | 60 dead[3] |
Tectonic setting
Fars province lies within the Fars Arc, a curved section of the southeastern Zagros fold and thrust belt. The belt accommodates crustal shortening produced by the convergence of the Arabian Plate with the Eurasian Plate. In the southeastern Zagros, convergence is approximately perpendicular to the trend of the mountain chain and is accommodated predominantly by thrust and reverse faulting.[4]
Most instrumentally studied Zagros earthquakes have upper-crustal sources, and coseismic surface ruptures are uncommon. Larger earthquakes may rupture the crystalline basement beneath the folded sedimentary cover, while some moderate events occur within mechanically strong units in the lower part of that cover.[5] Regional focal mechanisms reflect both approximately north–south and southwest–northeast compression in different parts of the Zagros system.[6]
Earthquake sequence
The ISC–GEM solution places the hypocenter at 27.861° N, 54.528° E and a depth of 15 km (9.3 mi). Its catalog identifier is 876738.[1] The depth is consistent with the upper-crustal source depths commonly observed for larger earthquakes in the Zagros.[4][5]
A Mw 5.7 aftershock occurred at 12:31:27 UTC, approximately seven hours after the mainshock. It was followed at 13:57:59 UTC by a Mw 5.6 event farther east. Both were assigned depths of 15 km (9.3 mi) in the ISC–GEM catalog.[2]
Damage
Approximately 500 houses were destroyed in Dehkuyeh, Khaneh, Lar, Shagheb, Nokhriz, and Bighu, a group of settlements east and northeast of Gerash.[3]