August 31, 1968 Earthquake: Dasht-E-Bayaz, Iran

August 31, 1968, 10:47:37.4 UTC, 34 N, 59 E, depth 13 km, magnitude 7.3. The most devastating earthquake of the year struck on this date near the town of Kakh in northeastern Iran. Estimates indicate the shallow-depth shock took over 11,000 lives, injured thousands and left upwards of 100,000 homeless. The most severely affected area was the province of Khorassan which has a population of 1.8 million. More than 100 villages were damaged and several reduced to rubble. (reference #45)

August 31, 1968, 10,000 deaths, 4,050 injuries, and $35 million damage. (reference #1250)

Augsut 31, 1968, 280 km south of Mashad, magnitude 7.4, 12,000 to 20,000 deaths, horizontal displacements of maximum 4 m over a distance of 27 km. (reference #1003)

August, 1968, 10.47 UTC, 34 N. 58.7 E, magnitude 6.0 mb, 7.4 Ms, depth 13 km. Known as the Dasht-e Biiyiiz earthquake, this shock was of disastrous proportions in Khorasan; many villages were reduced to heaps of rubble; a zone of 4,000 km2 was severely affected; more than 10,000 people were killed (official statistics published on 3 September spoke of 10,488 dead and several thousand missing), 17,000 injured, 12,000 houses destroyed, 70,000 people rendered homeless. Among the places which suffered most was Dasht-e Bayaz, where there were 3,000 dead out of a total population of 3,500. At Kakhk, a small town of 4,400 inhabitants, almost all the houses in adobe (sunbaked brick) were destroyed, with the exception of a group of about sixty houses; 3,000 persons were buried under the ruins. At Ferdows, already damaged by the first shock, the greatest destruction was caused by the aftershock on 1 September, whose epicentre was very close to the town; 1,500 houses out of a total of 2,300 were totally destroyed and at least 700 persons were killed. More or less severe damage was reported at Gonabad, Qayen and Birjand, where public buildings in masonry stood up to the earthquake but where many houses collapsed, as did two mosques dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. There were many casualties. (reference #1039)

1968 Aug 31, 10:47:43.24 UTC, 34.158 N 59.083 E, magnitude 7.1 (Mw). (reference #10476)

>50 million USD in direct economic losses (reference #12864)