After Bam quake, Iran thinks over moving its capital

Even before the earthquake, which killed more than 30,000, seismologists had warned that a strong quake in Tehran would have catastrophic consequences for the city of 12 million people. Bahram Akasheh, professor of geophysics at Tehran University, has said a quake of similar magnitude would kill over seven lakh people.

Akasheh has written to President Mohammad Khatami to propose moving the capital to the central city of Isfahan, which was the country’s capital in the late 16th century under Shah Abbas the Great.

The Aftab-E Yazd reported Health Ministry estimates that a quake measuring 7 on the Richter scale would destroy 90 per cent of Tehran’s hospitals.