2012 East Azerbaijan earthquakes
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| Date | August 11, 2012 |
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| Origin time | 16:53:17 (UTC+04.30) 17:04:35 (UTC+04.30) |
| Magnitude | 6.4 Mw, 6.3 Mw |
| Depth | 9 km (5.6 mi) |
| Epicenter | 38°19′19.2″N 46°52′48″E / 38.322000°N 46.88000°ECoordinates: 38°19′19.2″N 46°52′48″E / 38.322000°N 46.88000°E |
| Areas affected | Iran |
| Max. intensity | VIII (Severe) |
| Aftershocks | at least 60 |
| Casualties | 306 dead, 3,037 injured |
The 2012 East Azerbaijan earthquakes occurred near the cities of Ahar and Varzaqan in Iran's East Azerbaijan Province, on August 11, 2012, at 16:53 Iran Standard Time. The doublet were separated by eleven minutes, measured 6.4 and 6.3 on the moment magnitude scale, and occurred 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Tabriz. At least 306 people died and more than 3,000 others were injured, primarily in the rural and mountainous areas to the northeast of Tabriz (though 45 died in the city of Ahar). The shocks were felt in Armenia and Azerbaijan, though no major damage was reported.
Iran lies within the complex zone of continental collision between the Arabian Plate and the Eurasian Plate, which extends from the Bitlis-Zagros belt in the south to the Greater Caucasus mountains, the Absheron-Balkan Sill and the Kopet Dag mountains in the north. The collision between these plates deforms an area of ~ 3,000,000 km2 of continental crust. It is one of the largest convergent deformation regions on Earth. In northwestern Iran, the Arabian Plate is moving northwards at about 20 mm per year relative to the Eurasian Plate, somewhat oblique to the plate boundary zone. The deformation in the area near Tabriz is dominated by the North Tabriz Fault, a WNW-ESE trending right-lateral strike-slip fault, which has been responsible for 7 historical earthquakes of magnitude greater than 6 since AD 858. Other known active faults include a W-E trending fault between the cities of Ahar and Heris.
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