1997 Qayen earthquake
1997 Qayen earthquake
On May 10, 1997, a powerful earthquake struck near Qaen in northeast Iran, in Khorasan Province. It happened at 12:57 local time and had a magnitude of 7.3. The epicenter was near the village of Ardekul, about 270 kilometers south of Mashhad. It was the region’s worst quake since 1990.
The quake killed about 1,567 people, injured more than 2,300, and left about 50,000 homeless. Damage was estimated at around $100 million. The shaking was felt across Iran and into Afghanistan, with the worst destruction in the Birjand–Qayen area. Many mud-brick homes collapsed.
The quake was caused by movement on the Abiz Fault, a right-lateral strike-slip fault along the Iran-Afghanistan border. The ground ruptured for roughly 110 kilometers, and hundreds of aftershocks followed, some reaching magnitude 5.5.
In Abiz village, 400 residents were killed when a school collapsed. Rescue teams, volunteers, and international aid rushed in to help, delivering tents, blankets, food, and medicine. Efforts continued for days, but by mid-May officials said no more survivors were expected.
The disaster highlighted how vulnerable rural, adobe-style housing is to earthquakes and led to calls for stronger building codes and better earthquake-proof construction across Iran, a country that experiences frequent large earthquakes.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 19:56 (CET).