LOC21:15
18:15 GMT
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TEHRAN, April 9 (KUNA) -- At least 30 deaths and more than 850 injuries
were reported as a result of the devastating earthquake which hit Bushehr
province, southwest Iran, on Tuesday.
Search and rescue teams are battling to rescue the victims in the areas
hardest-hit by the 6.3 magnitude earthquake, Mehr News Agency reported.
Official IRNA news agency reported the quake measuring 6.1.
The quake resulted in no damage to the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, which
is located just 11 miles southeast of the city, the Agency quoted chief of the
Power Plant Mahmoud Jaafari as saying.
Its epicenter was 89 kilometers (55 miles) away from the plant. The depth
of the quake was 10 km (6.2 miles), according to the report.
The Bushehr plant, the country's only nuclear power station, can withstand
quakes measuring up to eight degrees on Richter Scale, said a design engineer
from the Russian Atomstroyexport Co., the constructor of the plant.
Workers at the plant felt the quake which had no impacts on the operations
at the site, the engineer affirmed in a statement to Mehr News Agency under
anonymity.
The quake struck at 16:22, local time, and was followed by aftershocks.
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