EARTHQUAKES. Persia and Afghanistan lie on the great alpine belt that extends from the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean through the Indonesian archipelago and forms the world’s longest collision boundary, between the Eurasian plate in the north and several former Gondwanan blocks in the south, including the so-called “Iranian plates” and “Afghan plates” (Schöler, pp. 29f.). Hence, it is not surprising that they are regions of high seismic activity.

i. In Afghanistan.

ii. In Central Asia.

iii. In Persia.

iv. The historical record of earthquakes in Persia.