Global General

Iran quake injures 274; new tremor further south

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-07-31 18:00
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TEHRAN, Iran - An earthquake in northeastern Iran injured 274 people on Friday, the semi-official ILNA news agency reported, and a slightly stronger tremor struck central Iran on Saturday.

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The first quake with a magnitude of 5.7 hit the city of Torbat-e Heydariyeh, about 700 km (435 miles) east of Tehran, at 6:20 pm (1350 GMT) on Friday, and had its epicentre around 7 km from the city.

Many people spent the night outdoors in the city's parks fearing aftershocks. No deaths were reported.

Further south, a quake of 5.8 magnitude hit the Kerman region at 11:22 am (0652 GMT) on Saturday, Tehran University's seismological centre reported. There were no initial reports of casualties or damage.

Earthquakes are common in Iran. In 2003, about 30,000 people were killed in a quake that devastated the southeastern city of Bam.