LOC21:11
18:11 GMT
TEHRAN, Jan 20 (KUNA) -- The number of those injured in an earthquake that
hit northeastern Iran on Thursday has risen up to 228.
The epicenter of the earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale was 10
kilometers outside the city of Neyshabur, some 70 kilometers from the city of
Mashhad.
Eight villages and towns were affected by the quake, Iran's official news
agency IRNA, reported on Friday.
At least 85 aftershocks have hit the area since then, it said, adding that
of the injured, 190 have been discharged from hospital, while the remaining 38
are still hospitalized.
Some buildings had been damaged and windows shattered in villages near
Neyshabur.
The quake lasted seven seconds and was the strongest felt in the region in
10 years.
Many parts of Iran are prone to earthquakes. At least seven people were
killed in a 6.5-magnitude quake that jolted the southeast in 2010, the same
region where a huge tremor killed some 31,000 people in the city of Bam in
2003. (end)
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KUNA 202111 Jan 12NNNN