A strong magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck the province of Ilam in western Iran yesterday, injuring at least 250 people and causing extensive damage to buildings, Iranian media said.
The US Geological Survey, reporting the magnitude of the quake at 6.3, said it struck 36km southeast of the city of Abdanan, near the border with Iraq.
According to state television, the quake occurred at 7:02am near the town of Mour-Mouri.
“Fortunately there have been no reports of deaths so far, but there have been injuries and a great deal of material damage,” a Red Cross official told state television.
The head of the crisis committee for the area, Ahmad Karami, later said 250 people had been injured in the quake.
A number of homes and public buildings were damaged in the village of Mour-Mouri, as well as eight nearby villages, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.
A number of people spent the night outside their homes after at least 44 smaller tremors struck the area on Sunday, media reported.
In other news about Iran, the UN’s chief nuclear inspector yesterday said that Tehran now is showing some cooperation with a long-stalled probe of suspicions that it worked secretly on nuclear weapons.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Yuikya Amano spoke after meetings in Tehran with Iranian President Hasan Rouhani and other top officials.
The IAEA probe has been stalemated since it began seven years ago. Both sides agreed to intensify efforts late last year.
Amano said he was able to “follow up” on his investigation of detonators that could have been used in nuclear-weapons related work.
Additional reporting by AP
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
RSS