The initial tremor, measuring 6.1 Richter, was followed by several others, including two that reached 6.3 Richter.
At least five people lost their lives and about twenty others were injured when an earthquake struck southern Iran in the early hours of the morning, according to Islamic Republic media; the initial 6.1-magnitude tremor was followed by several others, including two measuring 6.3.
“Five people were killed because of the earthquake (…) and so far 12 have been admitted to hospitals”, Merdad Hassanzadeh, the head of the emergency response agency in the Gulf-lined province of Khormuzgan, told Iranian state television. “Rescue efforts have been completed and we are now distributing tents to temporarily house” the earthquake victims, he added.
According to Iran’s state news agency IRNA, two earthquakes of magnitude 6.1 and 6.3 were recorded after the first, measuring 6.1, leveled the village of Sayeh Khos, near Iran’s Gulf coast.
Earlier, the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) estimated that the initial earthquake had a magnitude of 6.0 and that it occurred at a shallow focal depth of only 10 kilometers. For its part, the US Seismological Institute (USGS) reported a 6.2-magnitude earthquake with an epicenter about 100 km southwest of the port of Bandar Abbas.
“All the victims were killed in the first earthquake, nobody suffered anything in the next two big ones because people had already left their homes,” Fouad Murandzadeh, head of local authorities in Bandar Lenge district, told IRNA.
Iran, located in a region where tectonic plates intersect, has experienced several devastating earthquakes. In 2003, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake in Kerman province killed an estimated 31,000 people and leveled the ancient city of Bam. The deadliest earthquake in Iran’s history occurred in 1990, with a magnitude of 7.4 and claimed the lives of 40,000 people in the northern part of the country.
View the news feed and get the latest news.
