Great
Earthquakes In Diverse Places
3,518 Injured in Iran's 5.5-magnitude Earthquake
2012-05-04 19:41:37 Xinhua
The 5.5-magnitude earthquake in Iran- Iraq border on Thursday has
injured 3,518 people, the semi- official Mehr news agency reported
Friday.
The chief of Rescue and Relief Organization Mahmoud Mozaffar said
that in the earthquake in Iran's Ilam province bordering Iraq,
3,518 people were injured and 50 villages were damaged between 30
to 80 percent, said the report.
Also, the governor of Abdanan city in Ilam told Mehr that there
has been no fatal casualties in the earthquake but two villages in
Murmuri region were totally ruined.
At 02:09 p.m. local time (GMT 1039) on Thursday, an earthquake
with the epicenter at the depth of 10.00 km, 32.74 degrees north
latitude and 47.61 degrees east longitude, jolted the Murmuri
region in Iran's Ilam.
Iran, including its capital Tehran, sits astride several major
fault lines in the earth crust, and is prone to frequent
earthquakes. Moderate quakes sometimes caused huge damages in some
regions due to poor construction.
The deadliest earthquake to hit Iran in recent years happened on
Dec. 26, 2003, when a 6.6 magnitude quake struck Bam city and the
surrounding areas in Kerman province. The earthquake left more
than 26,000 people dead and some 30,000 injured.
Some Iranian officials have suggested to move the capital from
Tehran to other places. The idea is not something new, and related
preliminary planning was done in late 1980s and again in early
1990s.