Another deadly earthquake strikes on December 22,…

Another deadly earthquake strikes on December 22, 856, in Damghan, Iran.

The area of significant damage extends along the Alborz for about three hundred and fifty kilometers (two hundred and twenty miles), including the towns of Ahevanu, Astan, Tash, Bastam and Shahrud, with almost all the villages in the area severely damaged.

Hecatompylos, now called Šahr-e Qumis, the former capital of Parthia, is destroyed.

Half of Damghan and a third of the town of Bustam are also destroyed.

The earthquake badly affects water supplies in the Qumis area, partly due to springs and qanats drying up, but also because of landslides damming streams.

The total death toll for the earthquake is reported as two hundred thousand, with forty-five thousand and ninety-six casualties in Damghan alone.