Historical documents and a break down of a telegraph machine suggest tsunamis occurred in the recent past. Will Iran be ready for the next one?
A joint workshop in co-operation of the Iranian National Center for Oceanography (INCO) and UNESCO was held in south east of Iran. The purpose of the workshop has been to define the probability of occurring tsunami and to estimate the results of a tsunami in the Gulf of Oman. According to the head of INCO, Vahid Chegini, such a disaster has previously occurred in the region. In 1945 high waves hit the Iranian coast, which were caused by Mokran Fault under the sea water. The experts have examined the big stones and rocks that can be brought to the coast only by tsunami or powerful hurricanes and also interviewed with some witnesses around Chabahar Port and Jask in south east Iran. So will Iran be prepared for the next tsunami?
As elder residents of the region can remember, the heights of the waves have reached as high as 2 to 5 meters. However there is a report of 13 meter waves near the Iran-Pakistan border. At first an earthquake happened and then after one or two hours the waves reached the coast.
Prof. Emile André Okal from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Northwestern University, USA, has studied the documents related to the disaster. He says that as a result of the tsunami the underwater Mumbai-London telegraph cable was disconnected and also an Indian English-language newspaper had published news about thousands of people that were killed in India and Pakistan.
Of course it is not known how many were killed by the earthquake and how many by the tsunami. The Indian witnesses have reported that the height of the waves reached 15 meters.
Professor Okal has also believes that Mokran Fault can be an effective factor in causing the similar tsunami again. According to him, this can occur again but the time can not be predicted. It can be an alarm for Iran, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
The workshop attendants have announced that there is no probability of a destructive tsunami in Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea.
More environmental news on Iran:
NGOs Tell It On the Mountains in Iran (Clean Up!)
Iran Plans for Solar Energy in Tehran, But Cost’s a Limiting Factor
The Difficulties of Developing Cycling Routes in Iranian Cities
Image by Alice Chaos
Author: Mehrdad Parsipour
Mehrdad Parsipour is an urban researcher who is based in Germany. He is originally from Iran and is interested in the traditional urbanism and architecture of Iran and Middle East. Mehrdad’s other research interests are western traditional urban development trends, Islamic cities, and sustainable urban forms, and finally the environment. Since 1997 he has been working in the field of civil engineering, and also urban and regional planning.
Un article sans faute d’orthographe… je tenais juste à le souligner car c’est rare de nos jours !
I am aware of this, Mehrdad, but if left to his own devices the above mentioned gentleman could have a catastrophic influence on both.
This post is about environment and climate.
Maybe President Mahmoud Ahmadinijad will go to the beach on that particular day and……