Dozens dead in Iran quake; no damage to nuclear plant
Tehran - Dozens of people died Tuesday in a 6.3-magnitude earthquake that struck the southern Iranian province of Bushehr.
Bushehr governor Fereydoun Hassanvand told local media that at least 37 people had lost their lives. An estimated 850 people were injured of whom 100 had to be hospitalized, he added.
Iranian experts placed the epicentre of the quake in the Dashti area, more than 100 kilometres south-east of where a 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plant is located.
There were no reports of damage to the nuclear power plant, which started operations in Bushehr in 2011. Recent shutdowns of the plant unrelated to the earthquake have raised concerns about its safety.
Homes in the towns of Shonbeh and Kaki were devastated, with residents fleeing buildings fearing aftershocks.
According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake had a magnitude of 6.3 and struck at at 4:22 pm (1152 GMT), at a depth of 10 kilometres. Its epicentre was 89 kilometres south-east of the city of Bandar Bushehr.
Hassanvand told state television that the quake had a magnitude of 6.1, adding that the Red Crescent and the natural disaster department of the Interior Ministry had already dispatched teams to affected areas.
The main tremor was followed by five aftershocks, the biggest of which reached a magnitude of 5.2.//DPA
