At least five people have died and 44 have been injured this Saturday in two earthquakes of magnitude 6.1 on the Richter scale and a multitude of aftershocks that shook southern Iran, according to Iranian media reports.
The earthquakes hit the southern province of Hormozgán at dawn and especially the town of Sayeh Khosh, in the area of Bandar Khamir, near the Strait of Hormuz, which suffered serious damage.
“There are five dead and 44 injured as a result of earthquakes in Hormozgan,” Iranian Emergency Services spokesman Mojtaba Khalidi said.
The source indicated that 22 injured remain hospitalized and that the rest have been discharged.
A person in charge of Bandar Khamir, Foad Moradzadeh, has told the IRNA agency that the victims occurred in the first earthquake, since in the following ones they were in the streets, outside their homes.
State television showed images of collapsed houses, people on the streets and rescue teams at work in Sayeh Khosh.
The governor of the province of Hormozgán, Mehdi Dustí, has assured that the rescue work began hours ago and that they believe that no one is left under the rubble.
“With the efforts of the rescue teams and the people, there is no one left under the rubble and the distribution of aid has begun,” Dosti told the Fars agency.
The source said nearly 80 villages lost power as a result of the tremors and power has been restored in 53 of them so far.
In addition, water has been cut off in the affected region and several bridges and roads were damaged.
Iran has strong seismic activity as the country is situated on the boundary of several tectonic plates and is crossed by several faults.
In November 2017, a 7.3-magnitude earthquake caused 620 deaths and more than 12,000 injuries in the northwestern province of Kermanshah, while in December 2003 nearly 30,000 people perished in another in the southern town of Bam.
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