The earthquake was located within the Zagros fold and thrust belt, part of the broad and complex zone of continental collision between the Arabian and Eurasian Plates. At this location, the relative convergence of the plates is about 26 mm per year. The convergence is quite oblique to the Zagros belt, although it is partitioned into orthogonal dip-slip motion within the active thrust belt and dextral strike-slip motion along the Main Recent Fault to the northeast of the Zagros Mountains.
Earthquake
The earthquake occurred near the Iran–Iraq border, approximately northeast of Baghdad. According to the United States Geological Survey, the earthquake measured 7.3 on the moment magnitude scale and was caused by movement on a thrust faultdipping at a shallow angle to the northeast. The epicentre was at a depth of, and the maximum perceived intensity was VIII on the Mercalli intensity scale. This was the strongest earthquake recorded in the region since a 6.1 Mw event in January 1967. The earthquake was felt throughout the Middle East and as far away as Israel, the Arabian Peninsula and Turkey. The Iranian seismological centre registered at least 50 aftershocks within a few hours of the earthquake.
Aftermath
Casualties and damage
The province of Kermanshah was the most affected area along with the cities of Halabja, Iraq and Sarpol-e Zahab being the hardest-hit. Ezgeleh was the nearest city to the epicentre of the earthquake. More than half of the Iranian casualties were from Sarpol-e-Zahab and the Ezgeleh District, which have a combined population of over 30,000. Officials announced that schools in Kermanshah and Ilam provinces would be closed following the quake. 630 people died. More than 7,000 others were injured. In Sarpol-e Zahab, the hospital was damaged and at least 142 people were killed, many who had lived in social housing complexes built by former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. At least seven people were killed and another 500 injured in neighbouring Iraq, according to officials in Iraqi Kurdistan. Further damages were seen as possible due to the threat of landslides induced by the shallow depth of the earthquake. The earthquake left about 70,000 people homeless across 14 Iranian provinces, destroying approximately 12,000 homes and damaging another 15,000. Relief camps in Iran distributed 22,000 tents and 52,000 blankets in the days after the earthquake. On 17 November, the Iranian government announced that the disaster has caused at least €5 billion of damage. In Sarpol-e Zahab, some residents blamed the widespread destruction on poor construction quality and government corruption. It was noted that older buildings remained standing, while many newer blocks collapsed.
