LESSONS LEARNED FROM EARTHQUAKES IN CALIFORNIA AND IRAN

In December 2003, earthquakes of similar magnitude occurred in Bam Iran and San Simeon, California. While many thousands died in the Iran earthquake, only a few people died in the California earthquake, largely because of safer construction. As tragic as the Iran earthquake was, there is hope that, in the future, lives can be saved by better urban planning in earthquake-prone regions, and by making buildings more resistant to collapse when they are shaken by earthquakes.

The seismograms shown in the image were recorded by Weston Observatory, Boston College.
Damage photos are from CNN.com.

Submitted by: Alan Kafka
http://www2.bc.edu/~kafka