Three killed and 800 injured in an earthquake in northwestern Iran

Issued on: 29/01/2023 – 11:36 Modified: 29/01/2023 – 11:34

Tehran (AFP) – A 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck northwest Iran Sunday night, killing at least three people and injuring more than 800 in the area near the border with Turkey, government officials and media reported Sunday.

Panic-stricken residents fled their homes as buildings collapsed and cars were crushed by debris, with hundreds taking shelter from the frigid winter conditions in evacuation centers as more than 20 aftershocks rocked the area.

The shallow quake hit the city of Khoy, with a population of about 200,000, in West Azerbaijan province at 9:44 pm (1814 GMT) on Saturday, according to the Tehran University Seismological Center.

“This accident left 816 injured and three dead,” the Iranian news agency quoted the governor of West Azerbaijan, Mohammad Sadeq Motamedian, as saying.

People were seen wrapped in blankets and gathering around fires in the snow-covered area, in pictures released by Iranian media, while state television broadcast footage of severe damage to residential buildings, including half-destroyed homes.

Iranians gather around a fire after the earthquake in harsh winter weather © Soheil FARAJI / ISNA / AFP

Buildings in 70 villages sustained damage from the quake, the state news agency reported, as rescuers cleared rubble to free those trapped in the area 800 kilometers (500 miles) northwest of the capital, Tehran.

The head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, Pir Hossein Kollivand, later announced that the search and rescue operations had ended, and there were no more survivors or bodies believed to be trapped.

Iran’s Interior Minister, Ahmad Vahidi, traveled to Khoy to monitor the situation, where he said water, electricity and gas connections were affected but restored, the IRNA news agency reported.

History of major earthquakes

Iran sits on the boundaries of several major tectonic plates and experiences frequent seismic activity.

The quake killed at least three people and injured more than 800. © Soheil FARAJI / ISNA / AFP

On January 18, a previous 5.8-magnitude earthquake near Khoy injured hundreds.

In February 2020, a 5.7-magnitude earthquake hit Habashulya village in western Turkey, killing at least nine people.

The deadliest earthquake in Iran was the 7.4-magnitude earthquake in 1990 that claimed 40,000 lives, injured 300,000 and displaced half a million in the north of the country.

In 2003, a 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Iran, the ancient mud-brick city of Bam, killing at least 31,000 people.

In November 2017, a 7.3-magnitude earthquake in western Iran’s Kermanshah province killed 620 people.

In December 2019 and January 2020, two earthquakes struck near Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant.

Iranians take shelter inside a building after an earthquake hit the area near the border with Turkey late Saturday. © Soheil FARAJI / ISNA / AFP

Iran’s neighbors in the Persian Gulf have raised concerns about the reliability of the country’s only nuclear power facility and the risk of radioactive leaks in the event of a major earthquake.

© 2023 AFP

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