TABRIZ - About 50 people have been killed and about 400 injured by two strong earthquakes measuring 6 and 6.2 on the Richter scale that hit the Iranian province of East Azerbaijan in succession on Saturday. 

 

The quakes struck at 4:53 p.m. and 5:04 p.m. local time, and the epicenters of the quakes were located 15 kilometers away from the Varzaqan region, about 511 kilometers northwest of Tehran.

 

A number of aftershocks have hit the region and many of the local residents decided to spend the night outdoors due to fear that another jolt would hit.   

 

According to the latest reports at the press time of the Tehran Times, 30 people have been killed in Varzaqan and about 20 people have been killed in A’har, two cities near the epicenter of the quakes.

   

“So far 30 bodies (from Varzaqan) have been handed over to the Forensic Medicine Organization,” East Azerbaijan Forensic Medicine Organization Director General Bahram Samadi said.

 

Medical sources put the number of injured at about 400 people.

 

Mahmoud Mozafar, the director of the state rescue organization, said the quakes had cut communication lines with villages in the A’har and Varzaqan regions and disrupted cell phone communications in Tabriz.

 

In addition, a gas pipeline has cracked in A’har, causing a fire hazard.  

 

The roads to four villages in the region have been cut due to damage from the earthquakes. 

 

The quakes caused cracks in some buildings in Tabriz, the capital of East Azerbaijan province.   

 

The quakes were also felt in the neighboring provinces of West Azerbaijan, Zanjan, and Ardebil.