SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Hundreds Feared Dead as 7.8 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Iran
Early reports lack details as enormous tremor shakes ground from Himalayas to Persian Gulf
Apr 16, 2013
An enormous earthquake on Tuesday was felt from the Himalayan foothills to the Persian Gulf. With the epicenter in Iran and details of the 7.8 magnitude quake only just emerging, fears that hundreds may have been killed is being reported by Reuters.
"It was the biggest earthquake in Iran in 40 years and we are expecting hundreds of dead," said one Iranian official, who spoke to the news agency on condition of anonymity.
CNN reports:
The epicenter of the quake, which struck about 3:15 p.m. local time, was about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of the city of Saravan, the center said.
A state of emergency has been declared in the Saravan area, and rescue workers have been deployed from other provinces, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
Carrieann Bedwell, a USGS seismologist, said a 7.8-magnitude earthquake was "a large event for any area" and could be expected to cause damage in inhabited places.
Reuters adds:
Iran sits on major geological faultlines and has suffered several devastating earthquakes, including a 6.6 magnitude quake in 2003 that flattened the city of Bam, in Iran's far southeast, killing more than 25,000 people.
This quake also shook tall buildings in India's capital New Delhi, sending people running into the streets, witnesses said. People also evacuated buildings in Qatar and Dubai, residents said.
"I was working and my work station was shaking," said Viidhu Sekhri, 35, an underwriter at a New Delhi insurance company. "Then it was a bit shaky so we just rushed outside."
Earlier in the day two smaller tremors were felt in India's Himalayan region close to the Chinese border.
An official at India's disaster management authority said the tremors felt in New Delhi and across northern India were because of the earthquake in Iran.
From Twitter:
Tweets about "iran earthquake"
__________________________________
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
An enormous earthquake on Tuesday was felt from the Himalayan foothills to the Persian Gulf. With the epicenter in Iran and details of the 7.8 magnitude quake only just emerging, fears that hundreds may have been killed is being reported by Reuters.
"It was the biggest earthquake in Iran in 40 years and we are expecting hundreds of dead," said one Iranian official, who spoke to the news agency on condition of anonymity.
CNN reports:
The epicenter of the quake, which struck about 3:15 p.m. local time, was about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of the city of Saravan, the center said.
A state of emergency has been declared in the Saravan area, and rescue workers have been deployed from other provinces, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
Carrieann Bedwell, a USGS seismologist, said a 7.8-magnitude earthquake was "a large event for any area" and could be expected to cause damage in inhabited places.
Reuters adds:
Iran sits on major geological faultlines and has suffered several devastating earthquakes, including a 6.6 magnitude quake in 2003 that flattened the city of Bam, in Iran's far southeast, killing more than 25,000 people.
This quake also shook tall buildings in India's capital New Delhi, sending people running into the streets, witnesses said. People also evacuated buildings in Qatar and Dubai, residents said.
"I was working and my work station was shaking," said Viidhu Sekhri, 35, an underwriter at a New Delhi insurance company. "Then it was a bit shaky so we just rushed outside."
Earlier in the day two smaller tremors were felt in India's Himalayan region close to the Chinese border.
An official at India's disaster management authority said the tremors felt in New Delhi and across northern India were because of the earthquake in Iran.
From Twitter:
Tweets about "iran earthquake"
__________________________________
An enormous earthquake on Tuesday was felt from the Himalayan foothills to the Persian Gulf. With the epicenter in Iran and details of the 7.8 magnitude quake only just emerging, fears that hundreds may have been killed is being reported by Reuters.
"It was the biggest earthquake in Iran in 40 years and we are expecting hundreds of dead," said one Iranian official, who spoke to the news agency on condition of anonymity.
CNN reports:
The epicenter of the quake, which struck about 3:15 p.m. local time, was about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of the city of Saravan, the center said.
A state of emergency has been declared in the Saravan area, and rescue workers have been deployed from other provinces, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
Carrieann Bedwell, a USGS seismologist, said a 7.8-magnitude earthquake was "a large event for any area" and could be expected to cause damage in inhabited places.
Reuters adds:
Iran sits on major geological faultlines and has suffered several devastating earthquakes, including a 6.6 magnitude quake in 2003 that flattened the city of Bam, in Iran's far southeast, killing more than 25,000 people.
This quake also shook tall buildings in India's capital New Delhi, sending people running into the streets, witnesses said. People also evacuated buildings in Qatar and Dubai, residents said.
"I was working and my work station was shaking," said Viidhu Sekhri, 35, an underwriter at a New Delhi insurance company. "Then it was a bit shaky so we just rushed outside."
Earlier in the day two smaller tremors were felt in India's Himalayan region close to the Chinese border.
An official at India's disaster management authority said the tremors felt in New Delhi and across northern India were because of the earthquake in Iran.
From Twitter:
Tweets about "iran earthquake"
__________________________________
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
News & Opinion
Trending
Common Dreams, Inc. Founded 1997. Registered 501(c3) Non-Profit
Privacy Policy