An earthquake has struck near Neyshabour, Iran, which is located in the northeastern part of the country. It registered a 5.5 magnitude and while there were no fatalities reported, the number of injured is at 230. More than 30 of those that were injured have been hospitalized.
Many residents in Neyshabour camped out on the city’s streets rather than risk being inside if there were more earthquakes or aftershocks. There have been about 75 aftershocks reported since the first quake. Neyshabour has a population of almost a half a million people and it is located about 550 miles from Tehran, Iran’s capital.
Rescue workers are still working in the area, looking of anyone that many be trapped. For the most part, though, the damage was limited to shattered windows in the city and damaged walls in rural homes. The cities within sixty miles or so of Neyshabour felt the tremors. The holy city of Mashhad, which located right at 60 miles from Neyshabour, reported having heavy quake activity, but no injuries were reported there.
Iran averages about one minor earthquake each day. It is located on active fault lines and while earthquakes are very common, they usually do not cause damage or injuries. However, in 2003, a 6.6 magnitude earthquake all but flattened Bam, a historic city in the southeastern region of the country. More than 31,000 people died in that earthquake. This quake was one of the reasons why people were so scared to go back into their homes.
There have been a lot of earthquakes in the Middle East in the last few months, including several that hit the Turkish city of Van. The largest was 7.1 magnitude and more than 1,000 people were killed. Thousands of people lost their homes in the quake that happened back in October.
