Informed Comment Homepage

Thoughts on the Middle East, History and Religion

Header Right

  • Featured
  • US politics
  • Middle East
  • Environment
  • US Foreign Policy
  • Energy
  • Economy
  • Politics
  • About
  • Archives
  • Submissions

© 2025 Informed Comment

  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Uncategorized

Bam Earthquake Kills 20000 Enormity Of

Juan Cole 12/28/2003

Tweet
Share
Reddit
Email

Bam Earthquake Kills 20,000

The enormity of 20,000 persons being suddenly wiped out by an earthquake is just hard for me to fathom. There is an old custom in the Middle East and South Asia of seeing such incidents as a sign of God’s displeasure. That way of thinking strikes me as sick (even though Gandhi, Abdul Baha and other very moral men adopted it).

In fact, the earthquake was caused by the Indian subcontinent, which detached itself from Africa millions of years ago, careened into Asia and threw up the Himalayas (relatively young mountains), and is still pressing up against Eurasia. Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Northern India are seismically active because of this major set of faults.

It had nothing to do with God’s moral judgment on Bamians. Indeed, this sort of incident seems to me to prove that the universe has not been set up for human beings particularly. If they get in the way of the laws of nature, and they do nothing to protect themselves, they get crushed. The earthquake killed so many people because provincial Iranian towns are built of adobe and lack any sort of eathquake proofing. When earthquakes hit during the day, they aren’t so bad. But this one hit at 5 am, collapsing buildings onto sleeping families.

The Iranian regime is already unpopular, and a disaster of this magnitude could become political. The government will be judged by how quickly and how well it does relief work for the survivors (the desert is cold at night). It may also be blamed for not having pushed earthquake-proofing of buildings.

Another disaster is that the quake destroyed the famous citadel of Bam, the more prominent features of which were built by Nadir Shah in the 18th century, and which was a big tourist attraction and potential future source of wealth. It probably can’t be rebuilt, and any way UNESCO discourages that sort of phony restoration for touristic purposes.

The US and Iran have had bad political relations for decades now, and there is much demonizing of Iranians in America. This moment is auspicious for Americans to show generosity to the Iranian people. The survivors need our help, even if we can only give a little each. For things like this I personally give to the Red Cross/ Red Crescent.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page

Primary Sidebar

Support Independent Journalism

Click here to donate via PayPal.

Personal checks should be made out to Juan Cole and sent to me at:

Juan Cole
P. O. Box 4218,
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2548
USA
(Remember, make the checks out to “Juan Cole” or they can’t be cashed)

STAY INFORMED

Join our newsletter to have sharp analysis delivered to your inbox every day.
Warning! Social media will not reliably deliver Informed Comment to you. They are shadowbanning news sites, especially if "controversial."
To see new IC posts, please sign up for our email Newsletter.

Social Media

Bluesky | Instagram

Popular

  • Israel's Netanyahu banks on TACO Trump as he Launches War on Iran to disrupt Negotiations
  • A Pariah State? Western Nations Sanction Israeli Cabinet Members
  • Israel: Will Ultra-Orthodox Jews' Opposition to Conscription Bring down Netanyahu's Gov't
  • Women's Cancer Rates are Rising in the Oil Gulf: is Global Heating causing it?
  • Threat to Rule of Law: Sen. Padilla thrown to Ground, Cuffed at Noem DHS Press Conference

Gaza Yet Stands


Juan Cole's New Ebook at Amazon. Click Here to Buy
__________________________

Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires



Click here to Buy Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam


Click here to Buy The Rubaiyat.
Sign up for our newsletter

Informed Comment © 2025 All Rights Reserved