Toll from Iran quake now at 250, over 2000 injured

Iranian state television has raised the toll from Saturdays’ twin earthquakes to over 250 dead and at least 2,000 injured. Images broadcast on the news channel showed dozens of families of sleeping outdoors in parks, with blankets laid out on the ground. Some were crying, others shivering from chilly weather in the mountainous region hit by the quake. TV also showed many people evacuated by rescue teams on stretchers to hospitals and clinics. Other images showed the injured in hospital beds. The US Geological Survey reported that Saturday’s first quake at 4:53pm local time (1223 GMT) had a magnitude of 6.4 and struck 60 kilometers northeast of the city of Tabriz at a depth of 9.9 kilometers. Its epicenter was a region between the towns of Ahar and Haris, about 500 kilometers northwest of the capital Tehran, according to Khalil Saei, local Crisis Committee chief, the TV report said. The second quake with a magnitude of 6.3 struck 11 minutes later, the USGS reported. Its epicenter was 48 kilometers northeast of Tabriz at a depth of 9.8 kilometers. The quakes hit the towns of Ahar, Haris and Varzaqan in East Azerbaijan province, the TV report said. At least six villages were totally leveled, and 60 others sustained damage ranging from 50 to 80 percent, it said. [caption id=“attachment_415296” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The eartquake leveled 60 villages[/caption]At least 10 aftershocks jolted the same area and were felt in a wide region near the Caspian Sea, causing panic among the population. Saei urged people in the quake region to stay outdoors and spend the night at parks and open spaces in anticipation of more aftershocks. Authorities feared the death toll could rise as rescuers were still trying to reach people trapped under rubble and had not yet reacher some more remote villages. Iran is located on seismic fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. It experiences at least one earthquake every day on average, although the vast majority are so small they go unnoticed. In 2003, some 26,000 people were killed by a magnitude 6.6 quake that flattened the historic southeastern city of Bam. Associated Press