On Tuesday night, Iran’s Seismological Center said a 4.6-magnitude quake struck near Pardis, east of Tehran, at a depth of 10 kilometers, with no immediate reports of casualties or major damage. A series of nine smaller earthquakes also struck the area overnight.
“This is what life is like for us inside Iran: an earthquake happens and my mother says, ‘I wish it were bombing instead.’ The result of 47 years of Islamic rule,” one message sent to Iran International said.
The reactions came against the backdrop of a fragile ceasefire after more than two months of war that began on February 28 with a US-Israeli bombing campaign on Iran.
Donald Trump said Monday that the ceasefire with Iran was “on life support” after rejecting Tehran’s response to a US proposal aimed at ending the war.
The ceasefire has been in place since April 7, but Trump has repeatedly threatened to end it if Iran failed to reach an agreement with Washington.
One message captured the bitter humor with which some residents viewed the quake amid fears of renewed conflict, suggesting divine intervention had stepped in where Trump had not.
“Trump dragged this out so much that God stepped in,” the message said.
Several residents said they initially mistook the shaking for renewed strikes.
“The earthquake at 11:40 p.m. on Tuesday in Tehran was really terrifying. For a few seconds, we thought the attacks had started again,” one Tehran resident said.
Another resident in eastern Tehran’s Tehranpars district said the tremor felt like a nearby missile strike.
“We are in eastern Tehran, in Tehranpars. Tuesday night’s earthquake shook and rattled our house so badly that we thought a missile had hit next to our home,” the resident said.
Several messages described the tremors as reviving memories of the recent war, when residents had become used to distinguishing between air defense fire, missiles, drones and explosions.
“Around 9 p.m. on Tuesday, an earthquake was felt in Tehran, but the one that came at 11:45 p.m. was felt very strongly. The whole house shook and the chandeliers rattled. It felt like the experience we had during those 40 days of war,” one message said.
Another resident said the earthquake and the sound of a storm afterward produced conflicting emotions.
“When the earthquake happened and then the sound of the storm afterward, we thought we were under attack again. We felt fear and relief at the same time,” the resident said.
In Pardis, east of Tehran, residents reported repeated tremors through the night.
“In Pardis, from 8 p.m. until 1 a.m., there were three relatively strong earthquakes. People rushed into the streets in fear and gas stations became crowded,” one message said.
One resident said a sudden dust storm added to the confusion.
“We were sitting at home, the weather was nice, and suddenly the air became extremely dusty and the sky filled with dirt and dust. Even though the war experience has taught us to distinguish between air defense fire, missiles and drones — or judge from the sound and shaking how close an explosion is — when the earthquake happened, for a few seconds we could not tell whether it was an attack or something else,” the resident said.
Other messages reflected mistrust and speculation about whether the tremors were linked to underground missile activity or even a possible nuclear test near Parchin.
“Could the earthquake have been caused by the criminals’ underground missile activities? Especially considering Tehran naturally sits on a fault line and their underground activities were exposed during the war,” one person said.
Another message said there was speculation online that the quake’s epicenter near Parchin meant Iran may have carried out a nuclear test rather than experienced a natural earthquake.
One message accused state television of failing to quickly cover the earthquake because authorities feared people would pour into the streets.
“State TV was not covering the earthquake because they were afraid people would pour into the streets. Human lives are so worthless to them as long as they can stay in power a little longer,” the message said.
