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OF DECEMBER 26, 2003 A moderate-magnitude (Mw 6.6) earthquake struck the city of Bam and its surroundings at 05:26 AM local time (01:56 GMT) on Friday, 5 Dey 1382 Š./26 December 2003, resulting in the highest casualty rate and the most profound social impact in the recorded post-1900 history of devastating urban earthquakes in Iran. BAM EARTHQUAKE of December 26, 2003. A moderate-magnitude (Mw 6.6) earthquake struck the city of Bam and its surroundings in southeast Iran (29.10˚N-58.35˚E) at 05:26 AM local time (01:56 GMT) on Friday 26 December 2003/5…

in Persia and Afghanistan. Both countries lie on the great alpine belt that extends from the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean through the Indonesian archipelago and forms the world’s longest collision boundary, between the Eurasian plate in the north and several former Gondwanan blocks in the south, including the so-called “Iranian plates” and “Afghan plates.” A version of this article is available in print Volume VII, Fascicle 6, pp. 626-640 EARTHQUAKES. Persia and Afghanistan lie on the great alpine belt that extends from the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean through the…