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2 dead, 241 injured in Iran earthquake

Published

6 years ago

August 26, 2018

A strong 6 . 0 – magnitude earthquake struck western Iran near the border with Iraq early Sunday , killing two people and injuring more than 200 , officials said .The shallow quake hit 26 kilometres ( 16 miles) southwest of the city of Javanrud in Kermanshah province , the US Geological Survey said , near the site of a powerful quake last year that killed hundreds .
The head of the emergency department at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences , Saeb Sharidari, told state news agency IRNA that two people were killed and 241 injured , six critically .

Sharidari said the two dead were a pregnant woman and a 70 – year -old man who suffered a heart attack .

IRNA quoted local officials saying that electricity had been cut to 70 villages but that it was restored to at least 50 by dawn .

The provincial head of the Red Crescent , Mohammad Reza Amirian , said there had been at least 21 aftershocks .

He said there were potential problems with drinking water due to damaged infrastructure in villages , but that it had not yet been necessary to distribute food and tents .

Kermanshah governor Houshang Bazvand told the Tasnim news agency that electricity had been temporarily cut to several villages .

A crisis centre was set up , with hospitals and relief organisations placed on alert .

But the local director of crisis management , Reza Mahmoudian, told the Mehr news agency that “ the situation was under control” and no request for help had been sent to neighbouring provinces .

There were reports that the quake was felt far across the border into Iraq .

Images on social media showed people being rushed to hospitals , but suggested relatively light damage to infrastructure .

Iran sits on top of two major tectonic plates and sees frequent seismic activity .

Kermanshah is still recovering from a devastating 7 . 3 – magnitude quake that struck last November , killing 620 people in the province and another eight people in Iraq .

That quake left more than 12 , 000 people injured and damaged some 30 , 000 houses , leaving huge numbers homeless at the start of the cold season in the mountainous region.

There was criticism that much of the new social housing built as part of a scheme championed by ex -president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had failed to withstand the tremor.

President Hassan Rouhani said those responsible would be held to account .

Iran ’ s deadliest quake in recent years was a 6 . 6 – magnitude tremor that struck the southeast in 2003 , decimating the ancient mud -brick city of Bam and killing at least 31 , 000 people .

In 1990 , a 7 . 4 -magnitude quake in northern Iran killed 40 , 000 people , injured 300 , 000 and left half a million homeless , reducing dozens of towns and nearly 2 , 000 villages to rubble .

( AFP )