Iraq

Iraq's seismicity is concentrated in its northeastern and northern regions, where the Zagros fold-and-thrust belt enters the country from Iran. The Arabia-Eurasia collision that drives Zagros seismicity produces thrust and blind thrust earthquakes of magnitude 5–7 at relatively frequent intervals. The principal seismically active zone crosses northeastern Iraq through the Kirkuk Embayment and the Zagros mountain foothills. The Kurdish region and the Mosul area in the north sit closest to the active Zagros deformation front. Southern and central Iraq, including Baghdad, are positioned on the stable Arabian Platform interior and experience much lower seismic hazard, though they are not entirely free from risk given the potential for waves from larger Zagros events to propagate southwestward.

Historical and instrumental earthquake records for Iraq show damaging events concentrated in the northeast. The 2017 Iran-Iraq border earthquake (magnitude 7.3, centred in Sarpol-e-Zahab, Iran) was strongly felt across northern Iraq and killed eight people on the Iraqi side while causing widespread damage in communities along the border. Earlier events in the Sulaymaniyah and Dohuk regions have caused building damage and casualties. The 1909 Silakhor earthquake in adjacent Iran (magnitude 7.3) caused severe effects across the border region. Mud-brick and unreinforced masonry construction in rural areas of northern Iraq is vulnerable even to moderate [[intensity]] shaking. The flat plains of Mesopotamia south of Baghdad — built on deep alluvial sediments of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers — could amplify [[seismic-wave]] energy considerably during any future large event.

Iraq's deeper tectonic context involves its position at the collision front where Arabia underthrusts Eurasia along a broad belt. The Zagros fold belt visible in northeastern Iraq represents the erosional surface expression of a deeply buried thrust system. Seismic reflection and refraction surveys show that the basement beneath Iraq's sedimentary cover descends northeastward, dipping under the accretionary wedge of the Zagros. The Kirkuk-Khanaqin zone has produced historical seismicity consistent with blind thrust [[fault]] activation. The Persian Gulf and the Arabian shelf south of the Zagros are underlain by passive margin structures with some seismicity. Iraq's capital Baghdad, though positioned on the more stable Arabian Platform, sits on thick Quaternary alluvial deposits that could amplify distant [[seismic-wave]]s.