Performance of Transportation Systems in the 2003 Bam, Iran, Earthquake

An earthquake with a moment magnitude of 6.5 hit the city of Bam in southern Iran at 5:26 am local time, Friday, 26 December 2003. According to the Iranian government's estimate, the earthquake caused more than 43,000 deaths, 30,000 injuries, and left 70,000 people homeless. It caused extensive damage to residential and commercial buildings and emergency response facilities. In contrast to the human loss and suffering and extended building damage, lifeline systems, although damaged, performed much better. Transportation systems and facilities (roads, bridges, railways, and the airport), although slightly to moderately damaged, became generally operational shortly after the earthquake to support emergency response and recovery efforts. The main reason for the good seismic performance of the transportation facilities was that most of them were located outside the zone that was heavily damaged. Another reason was that they were newer facilities and in general, seismic engineering aspects considered in their design and construction were more exact than those in residential buildings in Iran.