The Study of Effective Factors on the Reduction of Earthquake Damages: the Mission of Architects

As one of the most significant geotechnical hazards, earthquake often threatens Iran’s plateau areas. In Iran, the earthquake risk has increased, due to the intensification of the expansion of cities and the concentration of population and working capital. Iran is one of the five seismic countries in the world, due to the Alpin-Himalayan seismic belt. According to the experts, on average, an earthquake with the magnitude of 6 Richter scale occurs each year and a 7 Richter earthquake, every 10 years. In addition, historical surveys also indicate that vast areas of Iran have suffered financial and life losses due to this natural disaster. Therefore, we have to accept the existence of earthquakes, and we need to use the best solutions to reduce losses. In this research, which was done by the library method, initially, we suggest the factors that make it possible to see the increase of earthquake damages and then, by investigating the factors affecting the reduction of earthquake damages and especially the role of architects in this regard, we present the results at the end.