Quake hits near Iran’s nuclear city, 30 dead
UAE coastal cities feel aftershocks of earthquake in Bushehr
Iran was hit by a 6.3 richter scale earthquake on Tuesday.
A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck close to Iran’s only nuclear power station on Tuesday, killing 30 people and injuring 800 as it devastated small villages, state media reported. Many houses in rural parts of the province are made of mud brick, which can easily crumble in a quake.
The quake totally destroyed one village, a Red Crescent official told Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA). The nearby Bushehr nuclear plant was undamaged, according to a local politician, and the Russian company that built it.
Abdulkarim Jomeiri, a member of parliament for Bushehr, said that “the distance between the earthquake focal point and the Bushehr nuclear power plant was about 80 km and, on the basis of the latest information, there has been no damage to the power plant.”
“Up until now the earthquake has left behind 30 dead and 800 injured,” said Fereydoun Hassanvand, the governor of Bushehr province, according to ISNA.
Across the Gulf, offices in Qatar and Bahrain were evacuated after the quake, whose epicentre was 89 km southeast of the port of Bushehr, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The early afternoon shock was also felt in financial hub Dubai.
