Performance of Essential Buildings in the 2003 Bam, Iran, Earthquake

Abstract

A devastating earthquake hit the city of Bam in the south of Iran at 5:26 a.m. local time, Friday, 26 December 2003. Based on the government of Iran's February estimate, the earthquake caused more than 43,000 deaths, 30,000 injuries, and left 70,000 homeless. It caused extensive damage to residential and commercial buildings and emergency response facilities. Essential buildings usually play a very important role in emergency response, but this was not the case in the Bam earthquake. Damage to the fire station, hospitals, and municipal and communications buildings caused serious problems in emergency response soon after the earthquake. This paper studies the performance of essential buildings during the Bam earthquake.