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International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 07 Issue: 04 | Apr 2020 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
© 2020, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.34 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 7
EARTHQUAKE HAZARD MITIGATION IN IRAQ: Recommendations to
Decision Makers
Ali Majdi1
1Al-Mustaqbal University College: Civil Engineering
Al- Hilla, Babylon, Iraq
1Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest,, Romania
---------------------------------------------------------------------***----------------------------------------------------------------------
Abstract - The people of Iraq have experienced economic
loses and stagnation consequent of the human and natural
induced hazards. The 7.3 magnitude earthquake that hit the
Iran and Iraq border in November 2017 is one of the deadliest
seismic activity that was witnessed by the two Asian countries
based on the tremendous destruction of property and loss of
lives that was brought by the earthquake. The earthquake led
to extensive damages on the Iraq side of the border especially
in the town of Halabjah where there was a high number of
injuries as a result of the violent earthquake. The earthquake
brought about the disruption of normal operations in the
towns close to the border where the earthquake occurred.
There was a disruption of the power supply which left some of
the emergency services helpless since nearby hospitals were
unable to provide treatment of patients since there was a
disruption of power to the facilities. There was a level of
confusion among specialists in the field of earth sciences since
the quake did not adopt a typical, predictable characteristic
since it did not occur along a known major fault as similar
earthquakes of that magnitude. The purpose of this paper is to
introduce Iraq’s situation in earthquake hazard. It tries to
provide an insight into the achievements that may be gained
by implementing a proposed program of earthquake hazard
mitigation. The program should be implemented with co-
operation specialized identities and universities and other
community beings. The program aims to reach better
understanding of seismic hazard, strong monitoring network,
better built geotechnical testing facilities, increasing
knowledge in earthquake field, changing in the education
toward earthquake engineering and increasing in the public
awareness. A plan is proposed here and the main objective of
this plan is to achieve a seismically safe Iraq. This paper
provides the outline of this proposal, which is more applied
mitigation oriented than research with the consideration of
socio-economic situation of the country as well as the steps
needed before the program could actually be implemented.
Key Words: Hazard mitigation, earthquake engineering,
earthquake monitoring, earthquake network station in Iraq,
seismic activities, Halabjah.
1. INTRODUCTION
Disaster mitigation refers to a detailed guideline for all the
actions taken before, during, and after the disaster to reduce
its impact and intensify by facilitating recovery. The first
strategy of mitigation is the improvement of risk assessment.
As such, the government should invest in scientific research,
to identify the frequency, severity, and possibility of
occurrence of an earthquake before it happens. Technology
should be mobilized to send forewarnings and mend the
propagation and reaction to warnings. Prior information
prepares people for a prospective earthquake, thus reducing
the impact of earthquakes. For instance, if the people are
informed beforehand, and they can vacate the threatened
zone significantly reducing the mortality rate caused by the
earthquake. The threatened area should be insured against
catastrophic loss. This can be achieved through the
formulation of a disaster policy that would reduce the risk
arising from the disaster. Therefore, Iraq should invest in
technology and scientific studies to identify and manage
possible earthquake outbreaks in the future [1],[2].
Iraq is located in an active seismic belt and hence is an
earthquake country that has experienced many strong
earthquakes in the past decades. In this century, large
earthquakes have claimed much lives, destroyed many areas
and caused extensive economic damages [3].
Figure 1: seismic zoning map of Iraq
Figure 1 [10] shows the seismic hazard map of Iraq and
indicates that many major cities of Iraq have been located in
high hazard zone.
Figures 2 [6] and 3 shows earthquakes maps of Iraq and
adjacent countries respectively.
International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 07 Issue: 04 | Apr 2020 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
© 2020, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.34 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 8
Figure 2: Historic Earthquakes map in Iraq
Figure 3: Earthquakes map around Iraq country
With the past occurred earthquakes, human and economic
losses have been due to failure of structures that for the
most part were incompatible with the level of earthquake
hazard in Iraq. To control the seismic risk a comprehensive
earthquake hazard reduction program should be launched.
This program which will be described in next section aims to
good achievements and impacts on earthquake hazard
mitigation and public awareness as well as on the
earthquake research programs in Iraq [4], [5].
2. Iraq Earthquake Hazard Mitigation Program
The Iraq Earthquake Hazard Mitigation Program
which is proposed here aims to the following objectives:
1- Increasing the scientific knowledge
2- Reduction of risk of failure in constructions
3- Increasing public awareness of seismic hazards
4- Plans for post-earthquake actions.
Based on the above objectives, the detail program with six
main components was designed and to be implemented with
the co-operation of various institutions in Iraq. The outlines
of the program have been shown in Table 1. The description
column in this table gives the various requirements included
in the proposal and the initial situation column is
representing the existing nowadays situation in Iraq
regarding the requirements. It is very difficult to reach the
real data that describe the actual situations in Iraq. The
percentages shown are approximated and just suggested to
be the start point of the proposed program. These
percentages are extracted in most cases from the few
information available in the global internet web. A brief
history of earthquake monitoring in Iraq can be shown in
Table-2
Regarding earthquake catalogue, the catalogue encompasses
the region between 36E-51E longitudes and 26N-40N
latitudes, and includes about 16,000 events of magnitude 3.0
and larger, and about 4,000 events of magnitude 4.0 and
larger between the years 1900 2009 inclusive. The
geographic extent of the catalogue’s coverage is intended to
include sources of seismicity beyond Iraq’s borders, but may
be damaging inside the territory of Iraq. The catalogue is
harmonized to Mw[6].
The completeness intervals for the entire catalogue are as
follows: Mw6.5 and above are complete since 1900, Mw6.0
and above since 1924, Mw4.2 and above since 1965, Mw3.4
and above since 1995, and Mw3.2 and above since
2006.Roughly 90% of the earthquakes in the catalogue have
a depth of between 0 and 35km.This indicates that majority
of earthquakes in the region exhibit shallow crustal seismic
activity.
Table 1. Proposed Earthquake Hazard Mitigation Program
No.
Description
Initial
Situation
1
Research on Seismic Zoning and Micro zoning
1.1
Seismic Network : Existed stations
covers only 50% [7],[8],[9]
60%
1.2
Motion Network : Lack of national strong
motion network and the existed is few
compared with the needed [8],[9]
20%
1.3
Seismological Studies
a. Source mechanism estimation:
recently active but it is influenced by the
political conditions of the country.
b. Earthquake catalogue: There is one in
term of moment magnitude [6]
45%
1.4
Monitoring faults and studying their
activity and study the seismic gaps : not
periodical , they are in the form of
(researches) rather than continuous
monitoring and studying
30%
1.5
Geotechnical Studies and Investigation:
Narrow band budget that allocated to
hazard and disaster risks like ones of
earthquakes. Weak effort in this
direction
10%
1.6
Seismic Hazard Studies: Estimate activity
of seismic sources and their probabilistic
models , develop seismic hazard maps ,
study the influence of local soil
30%
International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 07 Issue: 04 | Apr 2020 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
© 2020, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.34 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 9
conditions at selected cities and updating
hazard maps.
1.7
Seismotectonic study of Iraq:
geotechnical investigation and
amplification analysis
50%
1.8
Seismic Zoning And Microzoning Maps
50%
2
Research on Seismic Safety of Structures
2A
Installations of structural dynamic
laboratories and workshops , shaking
tables facilities at universities and
advance soil dynamic laboratories
40%
2B
Research on Seismic Safety of Structures
10%
2B.1
Assessment of seismic response of actual
Structures ( at least the important
structures )
10%
2B.2
Vulnerability of existing structures
a. Formulating an approach for building
stocks
b. Applying it in the program
c. Formulating conclusions and
recommendations
10%
2B.3
Vulnerability of Lifelines (observation
and analysis)
10%
2B.4
Material Testing and Quality Control
a. Common building materials in Iraq for
quality control
b. Propose recommendations
c. Specify acceptable properties
60%
2B.5
New Materials:
a. Literature survey
b. Selection of new materials to be used
in Iraqi construction
c. Testing and certification
10%
2B.6
Geotechnical Studies and Zonation
25%
2B.7
Experimental Study of Typical Iraqi
Masonry Construction
30%
2B.8
Experimental Study of Typical Iraqi
Reinforced Concrete Structure
40%
2B.9
Experimental Study of Base Isolation
Systems (BIS) for Small Buildings
30%
2B.10
Experimental Study of Typical Structural
Joints
30%
2B.11
Shaking Table Tests and Study of Models
of Typical Rural Houses
a. Select and design of model
b. Develop analytical models
c. Shaking table model test
d. Shaking Table Model Test of RC
Frames with Infill Masonry Walls
e. Shaking Table Model of Steel Frames
with Infill Masonry Walls
10%
2B.12
Analytical Studies of Structural Response
50%
3
Building Code
3.1
Updating of Building Codes( revision and
adjustment)
50%
3.2
Preparation of Written and Graphical
Material
50%
4
Education and Training
50%
5
Risk Assessment and Reduction ( data ,
results of study , risk assessment and
formulating mitigation strategy )
40%
6
T.V. programs , publication in elementary
and high schools and educational
campaigns to create consciousness by
means of all media
10%
Table 2 A brief history of earthquake monitoring in Iraq
[6],[7],[8],[9]
Identity and achievement
Year
The Department of Geology, University of
Baghdad
Mobile 3-component short period analog
recording equipment (TELEDYNE
SYSTEM)
Most of this recording was for graduate
students’ research.
2791
Scientific Research Council-SRC
Seismological Unit as a dedicated
independent seismological center to
coordinate earthquake monitoring in Iraq.
1976
The Iraq Seismic Network (ISN) became
operational
Analog short-period stations in Baghdad,
Mosul, Rutbah, and Basra .
Monitoring until 1991 after which half of
them ceased to operate .
A large gap existed in seismic data
collection.
1980s
Project supported by National Science
Foundation, US DoE, and UA Little Rock
Installation of two broadband stations in
Baghdad and Mosul .
It also included training and capacity
building for research and infrastructure.
2003
University of Duhok in northern Iraq
Install a broadband seismic station
(DHK1) on the university campus.
This station located within the seismically
active zone, which represents the
continental-continental collision
boundary between the Arabian and
Eurasian plates , see (Figure 3).
2007
In collaboration with LLNL (Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory)
Seven-element high-frequency three-
component array installed
Al-Rifai about 240 kilometres southeast
Baghdad
The area experienced a swarm of
moderate size earthquakes.
Many of the earthquakes that were
strongly felt by the area’s residences were
not reported by any agency except a few
that were strong enough to cause some
structural damage.
2013-2014
International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 07 Issue: 04 | Apr 2020 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
© 2020, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.34 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 10
Five more broadband seismic stations
Two strong motion stations were
installed.
Basra (BSR2), Nasiriya (NSR4),
Ammarah (AMR2), Karbala (KAR2), and
Sulaymaniyah (SYL1).
The 2 strong motion stations were
collocated with BSR2 and SYL1
broadband stations.
Figure 3 represents the location map.
2014 and
2015
IRIS Data Services provided five Guralp
3ESP broadband seismometers A
PowerEdge R815 DELL server
Four broadband stations online. UA Little
Rock team fitted three of these
seismometers with Guralp DM24
digitizers and GPS antennas to produce
three new stations.
2017
The monitoring of seismic activities in Iraq are done by Iraqi
meteorological organization & seismology department [9] in
the ministry of transportation which provide information
and data related to these activities. The distribution of
seismic network stations is shown in figures 4 and 5.
Figure.4 Location map of broadband seismic stations
Figure.5 Six Kinemetrics stations with VAST System
3. Main Required Achievements
The main required achievements are as follows:
1- Recognition of hazard, vulnerability and risk in Iraq
2- Focusing on planning
3- Enforcing the technical knowledge and engineering
practice
4- Implementation of mitigation actions
5- Reduction of vulnerabilities
6- Testing facilities and laboratories
7- Deeply understanding and assessment of Iraq’s
seismicity and seismic hazard
8- Treatment of the lack of technical knowledge for the
Implementation of risk reduction policy or program
9- Directing engineering education more toward
earthquake engineering
10- Establishing graduate studies in the earthquake, MS
and Ph.D.
11- Training engineers through courses, seminars and
workshops
12- Public awareness
13- Construction quality
14- The long term planning.
15- Co-operation and coordination
4. Effectiveness of Existing Mitigation Plans
According to indexes shown in the Tables 3 the
implementation of the program is a significant step toward
risk reduction in the country; however, the problem of its
use in the society and its overall application still need to be
solved.
Table 3: Iraq’s achievement during last years
(Approximated)
achievement
Article
Low
Public Awareness
Moderate
Engineering Practice and Knowledge
Low
Political Will
Low
Programs Application &
implementation
Moderate
Researches
Low
Graduate Students
Moderate
Seismic Stations
Low
Strong Motion Stations
Low
Research Laboratories
Low
Books and Technical Reports
Low
Investment
Today, the public and private investment for aseismic design
and construction and mitigation is not compatible with the
development. Therefore, questions can be raised about
International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 07 Issue: 04 | Apr 2020 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
© 2020, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.34 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 11
effectiveness of any mitigation plan and incompatibility of
the existing buildings and infrastructures with the level of
seismic hazard in Iraq as well as lack of the use of knowledge
in application. These represent the causes of the existing
vulnerability. Also, following obstacles have made the
implementation and reaching a seismically safe environment
difficult:
1- Vibrated level of seismic risk in Iraq
2- Strengthening and retrofitting lifelines is very
expensive and requires very rich economy
3- Lack of the political will in all the governmental level
5. Details of the suggested program
5.1. Program Considerations
Based on Table 3, the plan or program of risk reduction
should be more application oriented with the full
considerations of the following points in its development:
1- Level of people awareness
2- Economic condition of people
3- Economic capabilities to be used for immediate
needs
4- Will of the governments
5- Lack of trend of long term work among the
decision makers
6- Lack of law and code enforcement
7- Lack of full use and benefit of the technical
knowledge
8- Lack of organization for implementation
5.2. Program Steps
With this consideration, the methods to reach Program
requires the following steps:
1- Defining acceptable level of risk
2- Making seismic safety a priority
3- Building changes to existing engineering practice
4- Putting scientific knowledge into a usable format
5- Building public awareness
6- Establishing cooperation framework between
government, scientist, engineers, builders and
public
7- Close cooperation between developing countries
8- Moving the fund for disaster relief to prevention
and risk reduction program
5.3. Main Phase of Program
After reaching the appropriate decision for the above-
mentioned eight points and fulfilling the prerequisite, then
the main phase of the program should be started which
consist of:
1- Expansion of public education program by the use
of active Earthquake Information System
2- Make the full benefit of active participation of the
public in prevention and mitigation activities
3- Promotion as well as active enforcement of codes,
quality control and inspection for all type of
construction
4- Provide a system for rapid vulnerability assessment
of structures and easy, simple and inexpensive
strengthening solution
5- Provide financial incentive and rapid cost-benefit
analysis for those interested in upgrading their
existing vulnerable structures.
6- Move toward industrialization of the construction
practice for better quality control
7- Promoting the use of simple and easy do-it-yourself
construction of simple dwelling in the rural area
8- Reducing risk of vulnerable structures and lifelines
9- Reducing technological disasters (Na-Techs) by
strengthening industrial and chemical facilities
against earthquake
6. Conclusion
Good planning and decision by Iraq’s became very necessary
for implementing an earthquake hazard mitigation program
and support of the scientists to make visible achievements
toward a seismically safe Iraq. This study suggests that the
presented program is an achievable solution for more
effective risk reduction in Iraq. Such as this program needs
financial and technical support from worldwide
organizations which help the development country like Iraq
to achieve the target of this program. Further detailed steps
should be done from researchers, universities and
government to make this briefly paper to be an applicable
project and submit it to the authorities and enable the
implementation of it.
7. References
[1] Iwan, Wilfred D. "Mitigation emerges as a major strategy
for reducing losses caused by natural disasters."
Science284.5422 (1999): 1943.
[2] Dehghan, Saeed Kamali, et al. “Iran-Iraq Earthquake
Death Toll Climbs to More than 400.”The Guardian, 13
Nov. 2017.
[3] ISN , "Report of earthquakes that have occurred north -
east Iran , April 2017
[4] Aliev, Telman. "Intelligent Seismic-Acoustic System for
Identifying the Area of the Focus of an Expected
Earthquake." Earthquakes-Tectonics, Hazard and Risk
Mitigation. InTech, 2017.
International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 07 Issue: 04 | Apr 2020 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
© 2020, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.34 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 12
[5] Mohsen Ghafory-AshtIany , Mohammad-Kazem Jafari
and Mohsen Tehranizade"Eathquake Hazard Mitigation
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[8] Ammar Mahmood Shakir, Rengin Gok , Hanan Mahdi and
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[9] Ministry of Transportation in Iraq , Iraqi Meteorological
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