Golbaf Earthquake of 11 June 1981, Mw=6.6

Golbaf Earthquake of 11 June 1981, Mw=6.6

This earthquake killed about 1071 people, most in the main settlement of the remote desert town of Golbaf in southeast of Iran. All the villages in the Golbaf playa were heavily damaged. No foreshocks or preceding regional seismic activity were detected by teleseismic networks, and the general level of seismicity on the Gowk fault system had been low since the last moderate shock of 2 September 1969 (mb 5.2). Local inhabitants reported no indication of seismic activity in the epicentral region during the hours or days preceding the 11 June earthquake. The 11 June 1981 earthquake was associated with right-lateral reverse displacement along faults bounding the Golbaf depression and dipping both east and west along the Gowk fault system. The eastern fault moved over a length of about 14.5 km at the surface south of Golbaf, with an average of approximately 3 cm right-lateral and 5 cm vertical motion. The western fault appeared to have moved over a length of about 7.5 km southeast of Golbaf with only small displacements and hair-line cracks visible at the surface.