The Hindu : Eight provinces rocked

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Sunday, Jun 23, 2002

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International

Eight provinces rocked

This photo taken from IRIN TV shows a woman wailing at the scene of destruction in Qazvin province, northwestern Iran, on Saturday. -- AP

Dubai June 22. A devastating earthquake rocked Iran early on Saturday morning, killing more than 500 people and leaving over 2,000 injured and nearly 1,500 homeless.

The quake, which measured 6 on the Richter scale, struck at 7:28 a.m. (local time) and jolted a string of villages, flattening several of them in eight northwestern Iranian provinces, Qazvin being the worst hit.

The number of casualties is rising with every passing moment, Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted a local official as saying.

The tremor was followed by 21 aftershocks, three of which exceeded 4 degrees in intensity which were also felt in the capital Teheran, some 200 km to the east.

The quake hit the provinces of Gilan, Teheran, Kurdestan, Qazvin, Zanjan and Hamedan where panic-stricken residents rushed out of their homes.

The Governor of Bouynzahra in Qazvin province, Ali Moussavi, said the quake killed more than 441 people and injured over 1,159 others in the districts of Avaj and Abgarm. ``There are a lot of injured people. All the hospitals are full,'' IRNA reported.

The epicentre of the quake was between the provinces of Hamadan and Qazvin, IRNA reported, quoting the head of the provincial Red Crescent society, Majid Shalviri.

He said a large number of the injured had been admitted to local hospitals, and rescue operations were on to save people buried under rubble and to reach relief and first aid.

The state TV broadcast images of the quake-ravaged regions showing dust-covered inhabitants sitting amidst the ruins of their houses. While IRNA said that six villages in Bouynzahra district of Avaj were ``completely destroyed,'' state TV said 52 villages in Avaj had suffered damage to between 50 per cent and 100 per cent of their buildings.

Ten villages in Razan and three villages in Kabutarahag in Hamedan province suffered damage of between 50 and 70 per cent.

Local authorities feared that the number of injured could be very high.— PTI, AP

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