NW Shiraz Earthquake of 25 June 1824, Mw=6.4

NW Shiraz Earthquake of 25 June 1824, Mw=6.4

At dawn, on 25 June 1824, a destructive shock occurred in the district of Shiraz. In the city itself, all houses were damaged and a few collapsed. The eastern city walls and nearly all its towers fell  down, and the rest of the fortifications were damaged. Of the public buildings, those constructed during the period of Karim Khan-i Zand, such as the bazaar and the Masjid-i Vakil, suffered minor damage. The dome and walls of the Imamzadeh Shah Chiragh, the Madraseh Khan, the Imamzadeh of Shah Mir Hamza and Sa’id Ahmad, as well as part of the palace, collapsed together with several minarets. There is no evidence that damage extended beyond Shiraz, except to the district of Guyum in the northwest where a number of villages, including Kilistan and Qalat-i Guyum, were ruined and a few hundred people were killed, some of the survivors removing to Shiraz. Damage extended as far as Shul. The shock was felt strongly at Bushire and Imamzadeh Isma’il, and as far as Yazdikhwast, about 190 kilometers from the meizoseismal region. The earthquake caused a permanent rise in the underground water table in the region of Shiraz, and it was followed by aftershocks for six month. A shock on 28 August caused additional damage near Shiraz.