Seismotectonic investigation on the Bam earthquake prone area (Iran) based on ASAR interferometry

In this study the Satellite Radar Interferometry (InSAR) was applied to investigate the crustal deformation caused by the Bam Earthquake (M_w=6.5) that occurred in Iran on December 26, 2003. It was a multiple seismic event that destroyed the historical City of Bam and provoked great damages in the urban centers of the region. The Bam area in the south-eastern part of Iran is an active seismic zone and the Bam Fault System is comprised by three specific segments (north, east and SE of Bam). The three-pass interferometric technique was applied using ENVISAT ASAR scenes. According to the interferometric processing results subsidence has occurred in the area NE of Bam City, while dextral strike-slip displacement has taken place in the southern area of Bam. The last deformation could be attribute to a parallel hidden segment of the Bam Fault that is reaching the surface according to the shear displacement during the earthquake.