Free Republic

At least 61 people were killed and more than 300 others were hurt in a powerful earthquake on the Iran-Iraq border region Sunday, Iranian officials revealed. The quake had a magnitude of 7.3, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) announced, as reports of serious structural damage started to emerge. At least six of the deaths were on Iraq's side of the border, Iranian state media reported. On its website, the USGS placed the quake's epicenter at about 18.6 miles southwest of the Iraqi city of Halabja. The USGS also issued an "orange" alert for "shaking-related fatalities and economic losses."

Magnitude uncertainty 7.2 mww± 0.1 Location uncertainty 34.930°N 45.794°E± 8.1 km Depth uncertainty 33.9 km± 5.1 Origin Time 2017-11-12 18:18:19.770 UTC Number of Stations – Number of Phases 64

Earthquake hits near Iran’s current nuke plant Russia announced on Monday that it would start construction this year on a second nuclear plant in Iran, according to regional reports. Russia’s Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation made the announcement early on Monday, stating that it will begin building a second nuclear power plant in Iran’s southern region later this year, according to Iran’s state-controlled Fars News Agency. Meanwhile, an earthquake struck Monday morning near the site of Iran’s current nuclear power plant in Bushehr, near where the second plant will be built. Iranian media outlets reported the quake as hitting a...

A 5.6 magnitude earthquake has hit Borazjan, Iran, about 35 miles from the country's sole nuclear power plant, Agence France Presse reports. Seven people are dead and 30 injured, according to Iran's state news agency. AFP reports that neighboring countries have often expressed concern about Iran's Russian-built reactor and risk of radioactive leaks if an earthquake hits. In 2011, the Los Angeles Times reported that scientists and nuclear watchdog organizations were concerned about the possibility of a Chernobyl-like accident at the plant. Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist for global security program the Union of Concerned Scientists, told the newspaper: "We...

A magnitude-6.3 earthquake struck about 60 miles southeast of the Iranian coastal city of Bushehr, where the country's only nuclear power station is located, the U.S. Geological Survey reported Tuesday. Initial reports suggested the nuclear plant has not been affected, but the southern province where the quake struck is vast and remote and details were not immediately clear.

The Iranian Students' News Agency quoted the head of the government's emergency centre, Gholamreza Masoumi, as announcing the casualty figures. A local official in the area told ISNA that six villages had been completely destroyed and 60 villages had been 50 to 70 percent destroyed. The U.S. Geological Survey measured the first quake at 6.4 magnitude and said it struck 60 km (37 miles) northeast of the city of Tabriz at a depth of 9.9 km (6.2 miles). A second quake measuring 6.3 struck 49 km (30 miles) northeast of Tabriz 11 minutes later at a similar depth. The second...

Updated at 4:33 p.m. ET: Two powerful earthquakes struck northwest Iran Saturday, killing at least 180 people and injuring more than a thousand more, state media reported. The U.S. Geological survey measured the first quake, which struck 37 miles northeast of the city Tabriz, at 3:25 p.m. local time (6:55 a.m. ET) with a 6.4 magnitude. The second quake, which occurred 11 minutes later, struck an area about 30 miles northeast of Tabriz with a 6.3 magnitude.

OCHA Situation Report No. 1 Iran - Earthquake 22 February 2005 This report is based on information provided by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Tehran and the Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Tehran. Situation 1. An earthquake with magnitude 6.4 on the Richter scale occurred on Tuesday 22 February in Zarand, Kerman Province (750KM south-east of Tehran) at 05:55 local time. Based on information received from the Kerman Natural Disaster Task Force, some 179 persons are confirmed dead, while 500 persons have been injured, of which 300 have been transferred by helicopters to...

CHALOUS, Iran (AP) - A helicopter taking a governor and his entourage from the site of a deadly earthquake crashed in the mountains of northern Iran on Saturday, killing everyone on board, official Tehran television reported. The crash came as army helicopters ferried rescue teams to mountain villages in northern and central Iran cut off by landslides caused by Friday's quake, in which at least 35 people were killed and 250 were injured. Those killed in the helicopter crash included Masoud Emami, the governor of Qazvin province, three of his aides and a journalist working for Iran's state-run television, the...

Satellite Image of Bam, Iran Earthquake This one-meter resolution satellite image of Bam, Iran was taken by Space Imaging's IKONOS satellite on Dec. 27, 2003, just one day after a catastrophic earthquake struck the historic city. The full image shows widespread destruction as a result of the 6.7 magnitude earthquake that leveled 70 percent of the buildings according to news reports. Clearly seen in the center of the image (see thumbnail below) is the 2,000-year-old citadel, considered the world's largest mud fortress. According to news reports, much of the medieval fortress crumbled like a sand castle when the quake...

Despite Iran's willingness to accept aid from any country other than the "Zionist regime" of Israel, the Tel Aviv-based relief organization Latet hopes to send emergency supplies to survivors of the earthquake that ravaged the town of Bam on Friday. "If there are many people that are starving and injured and have no place to sleep," explained Latet general manager Eran Weintrob, "we don't ask and we don't argue and we don't think about political issues. We just act. If we can act, we will." Whether the organization will indeed be able to act in this case – by sending...