M5.2 earthquake 31 km NE of Dam?vand, Iran
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 31 km NE of Dam?vand, Iran on Fri, Mar 25, 1983, 3:27 PM GMT+3:30 (11:57 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.4 30 km NNE of Dam?vand, Iran. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.2 (mb, body-wave), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 1983-03-25 11:57:49 UTC
- Depth
- 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 35.953° N, 52.264° E
- Region
- Iran
- Strongest shaking
- IV, light shaking
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Magnitude estimates
Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.
| Mag. | Scale | Computed by | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.2 | mb, body-wave | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed · 48 stations |
| 5.43 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.4 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
Deaths and damage
From NOAA NCEI’s Significant Earthquake Database (record 4967), matched to this event by time and place.
- Deaths
- 30
- Injuries
- 61
- Damage
- $5 million
- Houses damaged
- Many (101 to 1,000)
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
Thirty people killed and 61 injured, many homes damaged and landslides in the Damavand-Amol area. Felt at Tehran.
From the USGS event page for usp0001tyd. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.
Shaking
The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.
- Strongest estimated
- IV, light shaking
- Map
- Automatic
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.2 and up: 1 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.
After
Earthquakes todayIran earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001tyd (also filed as gcmtb032583b, gcmt19830325115749, iscgem581507, atlas19830325115749). Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 3:06 AM UTC.