This satellite image maps shows the city of Bam in the Kerman Province located in south east Iran (Geographic coordinates: 29° 06' N, 58° 21'E). The city was stuck by a severe earth quake in the early morning hours of December 27, 2003

In the satellite image core areas that show extreme damages resulting from the earthquake were delineated using a line red signature. One of these extremely affected areas, where whole quarters of buildings were leveled, is located in the north eastern part of the city, still south of the river, close to the location of the citadel, which appears in the image as to be fully destroyed.

Another extremely hit area is located in the south eastern part of the city. The green lines mark open/flat terrain or fields that are possible or already used sites for camps/tents etc.

The legend specifies the key signatures in this satellite map in order to support interpretation.

Radar interferometry (InSAR) can map very small displacements of the Earth's surface. The displacement map, derived from Envisat ASAR data provided by ESA, shows co-seismic surface displacements during the December 26, 2003 Bam (Iran) earthquake.

Each color cycle (fringe) corresponds to 28mm relative motion in the line-of-sight (LOS) direction of the satellite. The observed LOS motions range from ~31cm towards the satellite at the center of the southern displacement pattern to ~17cm away from the sensor at the center of the northern displacement pattern.

The asymmetric pattern results in part from the projection of the three-dimensional displacements into the LOS direction. Displacement maps like this help to further our understanding of fault mechanics and the earthquake cycle. Fault plane geometry and slip can be determined more accurately with InSAR than from seismology alone.