Tehran, Earthquake, Milad Tower

Tehran; Iran's capital is in such a perilous location it should be moved, a leading Iranian earthquake expert told Reuters on Wednesday. According to the same report the possibility of Tehran being hit by an earthquake with the magnitude of 7.8 degrees on the Richter Scale is quite considerable. The human tragedy resulted from this occurrence is even unimaginable.

Meanwhile, the forth tallest world structure; 435 meter "Milad Tower" (Above pictures) is being completed in Tehran. Although this structure is one of the most sophisticated structures on earth, it is only designed to withstand an earthquake with the magnitude of 7.5 degrees on the Richter Scale. Collapse of a giant structure such as "Milad Tower" adds to the already scary situation.

It is understood that an increase by 0.3 degree in the designed capacity of an structure to withstand earthquake from say 7.5 to 7.8 degrees on the Richter Scale requires a completely different approach than the increasing the capacity from 5.5 to 5.8 degrees. On the other words, increasing from 5.5 to 5.8 is a piece of cake compare to 7.5 to 7.8 degrees although they are both increased by the same amount. Having said this, the question is why this structure is being built at all if it is not designed to withstand the magnitude of the possible earthquake?

Is this perhaps another example of the mis-management in Iran? Or is this another disregard of the human lives?