5.5 Earthquake! Iran!

2012-12-06 03:52:13 - Earthquake - Iran

EDIS CODE: EQ-20121206-37411-IRN
Date & Time: 2012-12-06 03:52:13 [UTC]
Area: Iran, Province of South Khorasan, District of Zohan,



Description:

An earthquake measuring 5.5 in magnitude struck eastern Iran on Wednesday, killing eight people and injuring 12 others as emergency teams scrambled to rescue others and treat the injured. People fled their homes as the quake struck and brought walls and buildings down. But others were left trapped under rubble in villages across the district of Zohan in South Khorasan province. "Eight people have been killed in the earthquake area and one person is missing. Unfortunately a number of those injured have lost their lives in the last few hours," South Khorasan's crisis management director Mohammad Ali Akhundi as saying. "Homes have sustained damage and people are out in public places and they need the means to keep themselves warm because of the cold," he said. Iran's Red Crescent Society despatched 15 rescue teams to the affected areas to search for people stuck under the debris and doctors in the provincial capital of Birjand were on alert to treat those hurt. Rescue units of Iran's
national Basij militia also joined operations, despatching three medical teams. Emergency workers had reached some areas and the number of confirmed dead could rise, Tehran's deputy emergency services director Mohammad Sarvar said. Two villages appeared to have sustained the worst of the damage including the village of Sharaj where five people were killed, Mehr news agency quoted district governor Farhad Falahati as saying. "We have what we need to help but landslides especially on the route to Sharaj have stopped the relief supplies from getting there," he added. At least 12 aftershocks have been registered since the quake struck at 2038 local time (1708 GMT), the Iranian Seismological Center said. The centre said the epicenter was 42 km from the town of Qayen, the heart of Iran's saffron-growing region, one of the country's major non-oil exports. The USGS said the quake, which it initially recorded as magnitude 6.0, was very shallow at a depth of 3.3. miles. It located the
epicenter as 48 miles north-northeast of Birjand, near the border with Afghanistan.