Earthquake in the southeastern part of Iran
ASTER Level 1B

At about half past five a.m. on 26th December 2003, a devastating earthquake hit Bam of Kerman Province in southeastern Iran.
30,000 people were confirmed dead and feared that the death toll could rise as many as 50,000. 60 ~ 70% of the city's houses were destroyed, leaving most people in the city without shelter from freezing cold.
Bam was a famous spot for historic remains, but the earthquake almost flattened them in ruins.
The year 2003, in which we have suffered from abnormal weather conditions, concluded with another threat of nature, causing to lose so many people's lives and their precious fortunes.

ASTER VNIR image of Bam in Figure 1 was observed on 2nd January 2004, immediately after the earthquake, and Figure 2 on 28th October 2003. Figure 3 was processed by allocating ASTER band 2 the color magenta and green in the images before and after the earthquake, respectively. In the figure, areas having higher spectral reflectance after the earthquake appear in green and lower spectral reflectance after the earthquake appear in magenta, in order to make the areas with larger difference on the surface conspicuous in vivid color.