A magnitude 4.1 earthquake was recorded in Varamin County in south Tehran late Thursday.
The tremor struck at 11:12 pm local time, according to the Tehran University Institute of Geophysics, ISNA reported.
Reports said the epicenter of the earthquake was 17 kilometers from Javadabad, which is home to 26,000 people.
At the time of writing, no causalities or damages were reported. Tehran is perched between at least three major fault lines, all of which are located dangerously close to one another. Should one of the three shake, the ensuing damage will be devastating, according to seismologists.
Bahram Akasheh, professor of geophysics at the University of Tehran and a leading expert on earthquakes, is of the opinion that “The building codes are almost universally ignored in Iran and Tehran is especially vulnerable to quakes because there is a major fault line running across it.”
Furthermore, the nature of the ground on which Tehran is built is unfavorable, as it is “too soft, too brittle”. The university instructor and other experts have often warned that “The destruction to Tehran would be immense. About 80% of the buildings would be damaged or destroyed. Tehran is not ready for a big one.”
