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WORLD> Middle East
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Earthquake injures 700 in southern Iran
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-11-04 17:58 TEHRAN, Iran: Iran's state news agency says an earthquake has injured at least 700 people in the country's south. IRNA reported Wednesday that 100 of the injured had been hospitalized while the rest were minor cases. The 4.9-magnitude quake struck the southern port city of Bandar Abbas at 2:56 am local time, cutting power and telephone lines and sending residents streaming into the streets. The broadcast said there were no reports of deaths in the quake, which hit 850 miles (1,367 kilometers) south of the capital. Bandar Abbas is one of Iran's key ports and home to a large oil refinery that primarily serves thedomestic market. Iran is located on seismic fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. It experiences at least one slight earthquake everyday on average. Some 26,000 people were killed by a 6.6-magnitude quake that flattened the historic southeastern city of Bam in the same region in 2003. |
