Abstract
A uniform earthquake catalog is an essential tool in any seismic hazard analysis. In this study, an earthquake catalog of Iran and adjacent areas was compiled, using international and national databanks. The following priorities were applied in selecting magnitude and earthquake location: (a) local catalogs were given higher priority for establishing the location of an earthquake and (b) global catalogs were preferred for determining earthquake magnitudes. Earthquakes that have occurred within the bounds between 23–42° N and 42–65° E, with a magnitude range of M W 3.5–7.9, from the third millennium BC until April 2010 were included. In an effort to avoid the “boundary effect,” since the newly compiled catalog will be mainly used for seismic hazard assessment, the study area includes the areas adjacent to Iran. The standardization of the catalog in terms of magnitude was achieved by the conversion of all types of magnitude into moment magnitude, M W, by using the orthogonal regression technique. In the newly compiled catalog, all aftershocks were detected, based on the procedure described by Gardner and Knopoff (Bull Seismol Soc Am 64:1363–1367, 1974). The seismicity parameters were calculated for the six main tectonic seismic zones of Iran, i.e., the Zagros Mountain Range, the Alborz Mountain Range, Central Iran, Kope Dagh, Azerbaijan, and Makran.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their critical reviews and constructive suggestions, which helped improve the technical content significantly. This study was funded by the IIEES, which is gratefully acknowledged. A significant part of the work was done when the first author visited the Department of Geology of the University of Pretoria. The support of the university is greatly appreciated. The authors are grateful to Ansie Smit for her support, discussions, and suggestions and to Ranjit Das for his discussions on the general orthogonal regression method. The authors would like to thank Silvia Castellaro for providing the computer program which was used to calculate regressions and for her helpful suggestions on magnitude error comparisons.
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Karimiparidari, S., Zaré, M., Memarian, H. et al. Iranian earthquakes, a uniform catalog with moment magnitudes. J Seismol 17, 897–911 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10950-013-9360-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10950-013-9360-9