Three day mourning declared after 6.1 earthquake hits Iran

At least 37 have been reported killed and 850 injured after an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale hit southeast of Bushehr near Persian Gulf in Iran and home to Iran’s first nuclear power plant.

The earthquake was centered about 100 kilometers (63 miles) southeast of the plant, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Dozens of aftershocks were reported by the official IRNA news agency since the earthquake, that occurred at around 5:30 pm IST.

Another earthquake of 5.6 magnitude was reported later on Wednesday around 7:28 am in the same area. In 2003 about 26,000 people were killed by a 6.6 magnitude quake that flattened the historic south-eastern city of Bam.

 

Photograph by Uwe dedering