The earthquake was located within the Zagros fold and thrust belt, part of the broad and complex zone of continental collision between the Arabian and Eurasian Plates. At this location, the relative convergence of the plates is about 26 mm per year. The convergence is quite oblique to the Zagros belt, although it is partitioned into orthogonal dip-slip motion within the active thrust belt and dextral (right lateral) strike-slip motion along the Main Recent Fault to the northeast of the Zagros Mountains.