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FIVE PEOPLE HAVE been killed today and at least a dozen injured in a moderate earthquake that struck eastern Iran near the Afghan border, a provincial emergency official said.
“Based on the latest reports from the scene, the quake killed five people and injured 12 others,” Mohammad Ali Akhoundi, head of South Khorasan province’s crisis management service, told Mehr news agency.
The quake, which registered 5.5 on the moment magnitude scale, hit at around 5pm GMT. Its epicentre was 25 kilometres from Zohan, a small town in the province, according to Tehran University’s Seismological Centre.
Five villages were also “destroyed or damaged” in the quake Akhoundi was also quoted as saying by the state broadcaster IRIB.
Iranian media reports said search and rescue teams were dispatched to the area, which had lost communication.
The US Geological Survey, which monitors earthquakes worldwide, confirmed the temblor saying it measured 5.6 and was at a depth of 5.4 kilometres.
Zohan is about 810 kilometres southeast of Tehran.
Iran sits astride several major fault lines and is prone to frequent earthquakes, some of which have been devastating.
In December 2003, a quake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale struck the southern city of Bam. It killed 31,000 people – about a quarter of the population – and destroyed the city’s ancient mud-built citadel.
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Just shocking
Half a billion animals have died so far. These bushfires will see the end to many species. It’s unprecedented. The devastation to all of the communities wiped out, reading stories of masses of people staying on beaches so that they can easily jump into the water is absolutely frightening. All we can hope for is rain and a drop in temperatures. As many experts have said, nature started this fire, nature will end it.
@Sirius: Makes you appreciate dreary old Ireland
@Sirius: And the thing is its only getting started, sooner or later they will figure out burning coal is not a good idea and there is a good chance the country will be one very large desert in the future….they have been warned like us all, its up to them to make the change.
Whoever or whatever is to blame …..seeing and hearing about the animals breaks my heart.
I saw a picture today of a dead kangaroo. Burnt alive, trapped in a fenced area. I think it will haunt me forever :(
This is a tragedy.
@moneymaid: Oh no :( I feel the same. Humans can leave their houses to escape to safety but the animals can’t. It’s awful.
It’s hell on earth.
Ways to donate to all the amazing workers trying to mitigate the effects of this catastrophe https://7news.com.au/news/bushfires/bushfires-in-australia-how-you-can-help-c-629603
Heartbreaking.
Devastating. Poor animals.. people should wise up and starting making changes. We are destroying our world. Reduce or eliminate the intake of meat for a start.
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