Major earthquake strikes south-east Iran

April 2013 Last updated at 12:55

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Major earthquake strikes south-east Iran



A major earthquake has struck south-east Iran, with
tremors felt across Pakistan, India and the Middle East.

The US Geological Survey said the epicentre of the 7.3-magnitude quake was
86km (53 miles) from the city of Khash, near the border with Pakistan.

Offices were evacuated in Abu Dhabi and tall buildings swayed in the Indian
capital Delhi, witnesses said.

Iranian state TV has reported at least 40 people killed although one official
says he fears hundreds have died.

This is the largest earthquake in Iran in the last 40 years, says the BBC's
Mohsen Asgari in Tehran.

All communications have been cut and assessment teams are being sent to the
stricken area, he says.

Mohammad Wazir, a correspondent for BBC Persian in Pakistan, says the quake
was felt in the cities of Karachi and Quetta.

It comes days after a 6.3-magnitude quake struck south-west Iran, near its
nuclear power station.

At least 37 people were killed and 850 wounded in the earthquake that struck
near Bushehr on 10 April.

But a 6.3 also hit Japan on Saturday. Not good.

tigger wrote:But a 6.3 also hit Japan on Saturday. Not good.

Hi tigger, I never read about the Japanese one but you are right....it is not good. Earthquakes are not rare any more and with all rhese strange deaths of birds and fish, the latest Sea Lions in California, another testament to Man's destruction of the Planet I'm convinced. The latest enterprise of drilling to the Earth's core to harness the heat so we have cheap energy is being done without any thought for what the implications will be.

I do feel sorry for the young because of the Legacy we are leaving them .

Plus today:

Magnitude 4.8 earthquake hits Russian republic of Dagestan
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake hit the Russian North Caucasus republic of Dagestan at 12:27 GMT on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said. The quake, which was located at a depth of 10km, struck 8km northeast of Sergokala. Tremors were felt for about 30 seconds. No immediate casualties or damage were reported. The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said the magnitude was 5.4 as the quake hit at the Caspian Sea, 54km off the coast.
unquote

tigger wrote:Plus today:

Magnitude 4.8 earthquake hits Russian republic of Dagestan
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake hit the Russian North Caucasus republic of Dagestan at 12:27 GMT on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said. The quake, which was located at a depth of 10km, struck 8km northeast of Sergokala. Tremors were felt for about 30 seconds. No immediate casualties or damage were reported. The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said the magnitude was 5.4 as the quake hit at the Caspian Sea, 54km off the coast.
unquote

This was lucky , let's just hope there isn't another one in a different Country that is strong enough to do serious damage.
I'm beginning to think the unseasonal weather is part of the demise of Planet Earth , there are no defined Seasons any more.

Here's an interactive earthquake map. Panda. A lot don't get reported. Japan had another aftershock today I think.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/

tigger wrote:Here's an interactive earthquake map. Panda. A lot don't get reported. Japan had another aftershock today I think.

[url=http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/[/quote[/url]]

Thanks tigger. I havn't seen it verified but although no deaths were reported in Iran, apparently several Palestinians died.

17 April 2013 Last updated at 13:27

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Pakistani troops in rescue effort after Iran quake





Shahzeb Jillani in Quetta: ''We don't really know the extent of
the damage and loss of life''

Continue reading the main story
Related Stories

• Iran struck by major earthquake
  
• Iran quake: Eyewitness reports
  
• Iran's vulnerability to earthquakes
  

Pakistan has sent troops to help its
citizens affected by a powerful earthquake that struck just over the border in
south-east Iran.

The 7.8-magnitude quake, the most powerful to hit Iran for more than 50
years, caused 35 deaths in Pakistan's Balochistan province.

The National Disaster Management Authority say a further 150 people there
have been injured.

The quake shook tall buildings as far away as India and the Gulf States.

It struck in the Iranian province of Sistan Baluchistan at about 15:14 local
time (10:44 GMT) on Tuesday close to the city of Khash, which has a population
of nearly 180,000, and Saravan, where 250,000 people live.

Its depth was about 95km (59 miles).

Continue reading the main story

Shahzeb Jillani BBC
News, Quetta

---

The area most affected on the Pakistani side is a remote location close to
the Iran border called Mashkel. Getting there from the provincial capital Quetta
can take 10-12 hours.

Travelling by road in Balochistan is considered very risky because of
frequent attacks and kidnappings blamed on separatist insurgents and extremist
Sunni groups.

Baloch nationalists in turn accuse the Pakistani army of widespread abuses
and keeping the province effectively under army occupation, with tens and
thousands of paramilitary troops deployed across the country's largest
province.

Since Tuesday, the army has sprung into action to fly helicopters to deliver
medicines, rations and tents to the earthquake survivors. Many believe the army
is keen to project its soft image in an otherwise hostile part of the
country.

"The epicentre of the quake was located in the desert,
and population centres do not surround it. There were no fatalities in the towns
around the epicentre," an Iranian crisis centre official, Morteza Akbarpour, was
quoted as saying by the Iranian news agency Isna.

Iran's Fars news agency said the depth of the quake reduced its impact to the
size of a magnitude-4.0 tremor on the surface.

All communications to the region have been cut and the Iranian Red Crescent
said it was sending 20 search-and-rescue teams to the area.

However, fatalities were soon reported in Pakistan, mostly in the Mashkel
district of Balochistan.

Officials said homes had collapsed and army and paramilitary forces were
being sent to help the relief effort.

Two military helicopters carrying medical teams were on their way and would
have troops in support, they said.

Scientists say earthquakes in
the region are triggered by the clash between the Arabia and Eurasia tectonic
plates
The area has since been shaken by several strong aftershocks including one on
Wednesday of magnitude 5.7.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement saying the organisation
stood ready to help "if asked to do so" and the US also offered assistance.

The quake was felt over a wide area.

Continue reading the main story
Area where quake struck

• South-east Iranian province of Sistan Baluchistan, near border with Pakistan
  
• Biggest province in Iran
  
• Sparsely populated area of mountains and desert
  
• Epicentre close to cities of Khash (pop 180,000) and Saravan (pop
  250,000)
  
• About 1,700 villages in vicinity of quake, with many houses built of mud
  bricks
  
• Many inhabitants live in tents
  

• Eyewitness reports
  
• Iran's vulnerability to
  earthquakes
  

Tuesday's earthquake was about 180 times stronger in
energy release than a 6.3-magnitude quake that struck on 10 April near the
nuclear plant at Bushehr in south-western Iran. That quake killed at least 37
people and wounded 850.

The Bushehr plant was not damaged by the earlier earthquake, and an official
at the Russian firm that built the plant said it had not been damaged by
Tuesday's earthquake either, Reuters reported.

Scientists say earthquakes in south-eastern Iran are triggered by the clash
between the Arabia and Eurasia tectonic plates, the former of which is pushing
north at a rate of several centimetres each year.

In 2003, a 6.6-magnitude quake destroyed much of the south-eastern city of
Bam and killed some 26,000 people.