MP: Zehan-Qa'enat Quake Left Four Dead, Many Wounded

Birjand, South Khorassan Prov., Dec 6, IRNA – Representative of Qa'enat and Zirkouh at Iranian Islamic Parliament, Majlis, Javad Heravi said here Wednesday night 5.5 Richer Zehan-Zirkouh has thus far left 4 people dead and a large number wounded. Heravi made the comment in an interview with IRNA Birjand office, adding, 'Two of the deceased victims of the quake were from Hossein-Abad-e Shaj village, one from Ben Khunik, and one from Khoshk village of Zehan city. He said that the relief and rescue teams of the Iranian Red Crescent Society have been dispatched to the region, and keeping in mind the darkness of the night there is still no precise report on the number of the dead and the wounded victims of the quake. He added, 'Since there have been many aftershocks following the killer earthquake, most of the residents of the region have come to the streets, which has created tough conditions for the families, keeping in mind the very cold weather in this region.' Heravi said, 'Since the South Khorassan Province is a newly established province, most probably the provincial officials would seek assistance from the neighboring provinces for helping the quake victims. An earthquake measuring 5.5 on open-ended Richter scale struck vicinity of Zohan in South Khorasan province, in early hours of Wednesday evening. According to a report by the seismological network of the Geophysics Institute of the Country, affiliated to Tehran University, the quake hit the area at 20:38 hour's local time (16: 8 GMT). The epicenter of the quake was located in an area 59.54 degrees in longitude and 33.50 degrees in latitude. The earthquake had 12 aftershocks. Iran is frequently hit by quakes - in 2003 tens of thousands of people were killed in a quake which flattened Bam. More than 300 people died in two quakes in northwestern Iran in August this year./end