5.7 earthquake shakes Iran

At least 110 injured, communications disrupted as city of Torbat-e Heydariyeh is rattled

Published July 30, 2010 8:41PM (EDT)

A 5.7-magnitude earthquake rattled the northeast Iranian city of Torbat-e Heydariyeh on Friday, injuring at least 110 people.

Iran's state TV said the quake also damaged several villages and temporarily disrupted communications. The earthquake occured at around 06:20 p.m. local time (14:50 GMT) and rocked the city for about 10 seconds, causing cell phone disconnections.

Local Governor Mojtaba Sadeqian said one of the injured was in critical condition.

Torbat-e Heydariyeh is in Razavi Khorasan province, about 445 miles (714 kilometers) east of Tehran.

Iran is located on seismic fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. It experiences at least one slight earthquake every day 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.

(This version CORRECTS CHANGES dateline; ADDS figure for those injured; corrects the precise timing of the quake)


By Associated Press

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