Every year, natural disasters in different parts of the world cause irreparable human and financial losses. These disasters mainly include phenomena such as floods, earthquakes, storms, volcanic eruptions, and droughts. Their occurrence and the extent of the resulting damage are not the same in different parts of the world.
Nevertheless, extensive efforts are being made to develop scientific and practical solutions for reducing the effects of natural disasters; however, such events continue to catch government authorities and the people of different countries off guard.
An examination of the effects of past natural disasters indicates that more than half of the casualties and damages result from earthquakes. Human societies have always sought to fully understand and identify this destructive phenomenon in order to eliminate, or at least reduce, its devastating effects. Rapid scientific and technological advances during the past decade in various fields have led to significant achievements; however, human knowledge and technology have not yet advanced to the point where the means of preventing earthquakes can be identified or the exact time of their occurrence can be predicted. Therefore, the possible and rational approach to providing adequate protection against this phenomenon is to raise public awareness, provide education, strengthen the seismic resistance of residential areas, establish effective and comprehensive crisis management, and utilize the specialized capabilities of the Basij and the Armed Forces.