Monday, November 26, 2018

TRAGIC: Over 700 Injured In Iran's 6.4 Magnitude Earthquake

At least 700 people have been injured in a 6.4-magnitude earthquake that shook western Iran, state television reported Monday.

The quake struck Kermanshah province on Sunday affecting 716 people.

There were no reports of deaths at the time of publication.

State TV showed images of cracked walls inside homes, saying 33 of those injured have remained in hospital as of today morning.

The initial quake, around seven kilometres deep, was followed by several aftershocks including one with a magnitude of 5.2.

Morteza Salimi, an official with Iran's Red Crescent Society, said most of casualties had been injured in a stampede sparked by the first tremors.

President Hassan Rouhani speaking at the site of the quake Monday.

News agency AFP journalists reported feeling the quake as far away as Baghdad in neighbouring Iraq.

Salimi told semi-official news agency ISNA on Sunday that the quake had rocked areas newly rebuilt after a 7.3-magnitude tremor last November that killed 620 people and injured thousands more.
Iran sits on top of two major tectonic plates and sees frequent seismic activity.

In 2003, a 6.6-magnitude tremor 
 the southeast of the country, decimating the ancient mud-brick city of Bam and killing at least 31,000 people.

The country's deadliest such incident was a 7.4-magnitude quake in 1990 that killed 40,000 people in northern Iran, injured 300,000 and left half a million homeless.

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