Quake in Iran

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Scores dead and over a thousand injured after two quakes strike Iran

Two strong quakes have shaken Iran's northwest, leaving 180 people dead and more than 1,300 injured, Iranian officials say. The quakes have also disrupted communications, complicating rescue efforts.

RT,

12 August, 2012

The quakes, measuring 6.4 and 6.3 on the Richter scale, struck near the towns of Tabriz and Ahar in the East Azerbaijan province. However, most of the dead are thought to be in the surrounding villages. 

Casualty numbers may rise, officials warn as rescue workers are yet to reach some of the affected areas. "Our access to villages have been cut and we can only contact them by radio transceiver," Mahmoud Mozaffar, head of Iran's Rescue and Relief Organisation, told the Mehr news agency. He added that "helicopters and rescuers are on their way to villages."

The head of East Azarbaijan’s Crisis Management Khalil Saei said that 180 people have been killed and over 1350 more have been wounded by the disaster, FARS news agency reports.

Iran's main news channel said the quake hit the towns of Ahar, Haris and Varzaqan in East Azerbaijan province at 4:53 p.m. local time (12:23 GMT ), AP reports.

A spokesman for Tabriz's fire department told the ISNA news agency that "most parts of Tabriz have no electricity… and there is a heavy traffic jam in the city."

"Sixty villages… have been heavily damaged and are in need of help," Abbas Fallah, a lawmaker in the hard-hit town of Ahar, told local reporters.

Meanwhile, the Iranian Press TV channel said at least 60 villages sustained damage ranging from 50 to 80 percent, while six other villages have been totally leveled to the ground.

The tremors were felt in neighboring Azerbaijan, according to the local Seismology Institute, but no casualties have been reported.

Iran is generally susceptible to earthquakes, being situated on seismic fault lines. Tremors hit the country every day, but the majority of them are so insignificant that they go unnoticed.

The deadliest was a 6.6-magnitude quake which struck the southern city of Bam in December 2003, killing 31,000 people – about a quarter of the population – and destroying the city's ancient mud-built citadel.

An Iranian man and a child walk past destroyed houses in the town of Varzaqan some 60 kms northeast of Tabriz after twin earthquakes hit northwestern Iran on August 11, 2012 (AFP Photo / Hamed Nazari)

Iranians search for survivors under the rubble of houses in the town of Varzaqan some 60 kms northeast of Tabriz after twin earthquakes hit northwestern Iran on August 11, 2012 (AFP Photo / Mahsa Jamali)

Iranians mourn over the covered bodies of loved ones killed in twin earthquakes in the town of Varzaqan some 60 kms northeast of Tabriz on August 11, 2012 (AFP Photo / Mahsa Jamali)

Injured Iranians lie on the grass outside a hospital in the town of Ahar, some 60 kms east of Tabriz, after a strong earthquake hit northwestern Iran on August 11, 2012 (AFP Photo / Kamel Rouhi)

An Iranian woman stands next to her injured child lying on a bed outside a hospital in the town of Ahar, some 60 kms east of Tabriz, after a strong earthquake hit northwestern Iran on August 11, 2012 (AFP Photo / Kamel Rouhi)