Abstract:
Earthquakes are natural hazards which not only demolish buildings and old monuments, but also ruin historic and new hydraulic structures which could be important water supplying systems in the devastated regions. Some of these historic hydraulic structures could also have a cultural heritage value, such as Qanats which are traditional systems for continuous supply of tapped groundwater to agricultural, domestic and industrial use.
A large earthquake stuck Kerman province in the South Central part of Iran in December 2003, causing the demise of approximately 26,000 people, injuring many more and destructing almost all of the buildings of the city of Barn and its surroundings. Before the earthquake, there were over 350 fully functioning Qanats in and around the city of Barn. The devastating earthquake caused significant damage to agriculture and animal husbandry with losses ranging from 30-100 percent. Many Qanats collapsed and water pumps and irrigation channels were ruined.
This paper presents the effects of earthquakes as a serious natural hazard to hydraulic structures. It will focus on the Barn earthquake and the current status and future prospects of the Qanats of Barn viewed from engineering, cultural, archaeological, geological, agricultural and socio-economical view points toward an integrated management approach.
