Bandar Abbas, Hormuzgan prov, Jan 5, IRNA – The earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale in the town of Bastak in southern Hormuzgan province completely flattened over 800 houses, the head of Islamic Republic Housing Foundation in Hormuzgan said on Sunday.
Hamed Zakeri told reporters that experts from the Islamic Republic Housing Foundation have visited some 2,500 damaged houses in the quake-hit area, nearly 500 of which are slightly damaged and need to be repaired.

Houses need to be repaired are estimated at 1,100, Zakeri said.

The Thursday quake left one dead and 29 others wounded.

Iran sits on several major faultlines of the earth’s crust, and is prone to frequent earthquakes, many of which have been devastating.

The worst in recent times hit Bam in southeastern Kerman province in December 2003, killing 31,000 people - about a quarter of its population - and destroying the city’s ancient mud-brick citadel.

The deadliest quake in the country was in June 1990 and measured 7.7 on the Richter scale. About 37,000 people were killed and more than 100,000 injured in the northwestern provinces of Gilan and Zanjan.

It devastated 27 towns and about 1,870 villages.

In August 2012, two quakes in Northwestern Iran also claimed the lives of 306 people and injured more than 4500 others.

By IRNA

 

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