At least seven people were killed and 47 injured in the powerful earthquake that struck southern Iran on Wednesday, the Mehr news agency reported on Thursday.
”Based on the latest information, seven people were killed and 47 have been injured,” the Governor of the province of Hormozgan, Abdolali Saheb Mohammadi, was quoted as saying.
The United States Geological Survey said the 6,1-magnitude quake jolted an area south-west of the port of Bandar Abbas, the capital of Hormozgan.
The quake occurred on Qeshm island, a popular tourist and free-trade island that lies just off the coast from Bandar Abbas in the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic Persian Gulf oil route.
”The earthquake yesterday [Wednesday] afternoon hit the same area as another three years ago and with the same magnitude, but because of reconstruction since, there was no serious damage now,” Saheb Mohammadi said.
He also said that electricity, water and telecommunication services had been restored on the island.
Iran sits astride several major faults in the earth’s crust, and is prone to frequent earthquakes, many of which have been devastating.
The worst in recent times hit the southern city of Bam in December 2003, killing 31 000 people — about one-quarter of its population — and destroying the city’s ancient mud-built citadel.
No tsunami in Indonesia
Meanwhile, Indonesia’s meteorology agency on Thursday lifted a tsunami warning after a strong undersea quake measuring 7,6 on the Richter scale hit the eastern Moluccas islands.
There were no reports of damage or casualties after the quake, which the US Geological Survey put at a magnitude at 6,6 and depth of 93km.
The epicentre of the quake that struck at about midnight GMT lay 290km east of Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province.
Local residents at Ternate island, about 120km south of the epicentre, said by telephone the quake was felt mildly and did not cause massive panic among the people.
Earlier this week, two people died and 60 were injured in an earthquake in South Sumatra province.
In December 2004, a powerful quake off Aceh province triggered a huge tsunami in the Indian Ocean, killing around 230 000 people with most of the deaths in Aceh.
Japan shaken
In Japan, an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7,0 struck off the coast of the northern island of Hokkaido on Thursday, the Japanese meteorological agency said, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
A tsunami warning was issued for the area after the tremor struck at 00:21 GMT, but only a 10cm tsunami was observed on the Japanese coast, broadcaster NHK said.
”I felt a shake from side to side,” Hiroshi Sasahara, an town official at Hiro on the south-east coast of Hokkaido told NHK. ”Nothing fell off from bookshelves but we found a crack running 5cm to 6cm along the wall of the town office.”
The focus of the tremor was 20km below the surface of the Earth, off the coast of Tokachi on the sparsely populated island of Hokkaido, about 800km north of Tokyo, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. It was followed by less powerful aftershocks.
The runway at Shin Chitose Airport on Hokkaido was closed for safety checks, as were some roads, domestic media said. Ten thousand people were advised to evacuate
Hokkaido Electric Power said its Tomari nuclear plant was operating normally after the quake, and Nippon Oil said its Muroran refinery was also operating as normally.
Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world’s most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20% of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude six or greater. — Sapa-AFP, Reuters