East Azerbaijan Province Earthquake: Six Dead and Over 300 Injured in Mianeh
Reports indicate that an earthquake measuring 5.9 degrees occurred near Turk in East Azerbaijan Province. The tremor left six people dead.
According to IRNA, the earthquake occurred at 2:17 and 3 seconds in the early morning hours of Friday.
Turk is one of the cities in East Azerbaijan Province and the center of Kandovan District and Kandovan Section of Mianeh County.
Tehran University’s Seismology Center stated that in addition to East Azerbaijan Province, the earthquake also affected West Azerbaijan, Gilan, Zanjan, and Ardabil provinces.
Death Toll from Friday Morning Earthquake
The Emergency Medical Services Organization announced that five citizens have lost their lives so far and 332 have been injured.
Ismail Najar, head of the National Crisis Management Organization, said that these five people died in Varnakesh village.
However, an hour later, the official IRNA news agency reported the death toll from this natural disaster as six people.
Farzad Rahmani, head of emergency services at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, said Friday morning at a press conference that 13 of the injured from Mianeh have been hospitalized, while the rest are receiving outpatient medical care.
Najar also said: A complete assessment has not yet been completed and it is possible that the number of injured or deaths may be higher than this figure, but we expect the numbers to not be severe.
Mohammad Baqer Honarvar, Director General of Crisis Management at East Azerbaijan Provincial Governorate, said Friday morning: An increase in the death toll from the Mianeh earthquake is likely in the coming hours.
He added that as a result of the earthquake, two cases of fire have been reported in the villages of Turkmen-Chai and several wall collapses have occurred.
The Director General of Crisis Management at East Azerbaijan Provincial Governorate added: So far, 30 rural residential units have been destroyed due to the earthquake. Several houses in the villages of Turkmen-Chai and Kandovan sections of Mianeh have been damaged, and rescue and relief teams along with assessment teams have been dispatched to the area.
According to the report, mountain slides have also been reported on roads in Mianeh, and it is said that road maintenance crews have been sent to reopen routes to the affected areas.
In addition, several strong aftershocks have been recorded following the main earthquake, with at least one of them measuring around four degrees in magnitude.
Greatest Damage
The head of the Red Crescent Relief and Rescue Organization said the greatest damage occurred in the villages of Varnakesh, Ball Steel, Varzaghan, Gavine Rood, and Gin Ali.
The Governor of East Azerbaijan said Friday morning: Of 80 villages in the earthquake-affected area, 65 villages have been assessed so far. Mohammad Reza Pourmohammadi added that at least 400 residential units have been damaged.
Morteza Salimi, head of the Red Crescent Relief and Rescue Organization, said no village has been 100 percent destroyed and damages in villages vary depending on proximity to the earthquake epicenter.
According to Mehr News Agency, the earthquake lasted 10 seconds and its intensity caused fear and panic among people in East Azerbaijan, Gilan, and Ardabil provinces. The earthquake was also felt in West Azerbaijan, Zanjan, and Qazvin provinces.
In this regard, Mojtaba Khaldi, spokesman for the National Emergency Medical Services, reported that all emergency bases in East Azerbaijan Province are on high alert.
He told ISNA that emergency assessment teams have been dispatched to earthquake-affected areas.
Mojtaba Khaldi, noting that all emergency bases and medical centers in the province are on high alert, said: No reports of casualties from this incident have been transmitted so far.
Meanwhile, another earthquake measuring 4.8 degrees struck near Gerdeshaneh in West Azerbaijan Province at 2:37 and 16 seconds in the early morning hours of Friday.
Source: Radio Farda
