Date of event
18-01-2023
What happened, where and when?
Khoy EQ 18 Jan 2023
According to the Iranian Seismological Center, a 5.4 magnitude earthquake hit Firoragh village of Khoy city in West Azarbayejan province of North-Western Iran on 18 January 2023 at a depth of 12 km at 13:19 local time. A 3.6 magnitude earthquake happened at the same point at 13:19. Twenty-one aftershocks were reported, the biggest was 4.2 at 18:25. The same region was also hit on 5th October 2022 by a 5.4 Richter magnitude earthquake, resulting in 1,308 injured people. The affected area consisted of one city and 55 villages with a total population of approximately 10,284 households (41,426 people). Firoragh district was the most hit area in Khoy city. People in the cities of Salmas,
Chaldoran, Chaypareh,Poldasht, and Urumia felt the tremor. The activated fault in this region, which caused this earthquake, wasSiyah Cheshme-Khoy.
Khoy EQ 28 Jan 2023 Based on the national seismological report, an earthquake of 5.9 magnitudes on the Richter scale occurred at a depth of 7 km in Safa district, Khoy city on Saturday, 28th January 2023 at 21:44, followed by 72 aftershocks which felt the greatest of 4.5 magnitudes at 18:11 the day after. Overall, 261,387 people were affected, 1,017 were injured, and 3 died so far across 86 villages. Many urban residential buildings collapsed or were partially damaged in the Safa district and Khoy city. Some residential buildings in 70 villages were destroyed from 20 to 80 percent based on the governorate general office of West Azarbayejan. The electricity and gas supply were cut in the affected region. Telecommunication means were disrupted in at least four villages, namely Chavoshqoli, Asgarabad, Aland, and Kalvan. The severity of the situation was intensified by the heavy snowfall and zero temperatures. The fear of aftershocks hindered affected households from returning to their houses, and they preferred to be settled in the 70 camps provided across the affected region by the IRCS.
In short, both EQs affected Khoy county but different villages and districts were seeing more damage.
