Iran quake death toll rises to 250

TEHRAN (ISNA)-Iran's quake death toll rises to 250 and more than 2000 are injured, said Director-General of the Crisis-Management Headquarters of northwest Iran adding the search goes on to find more survivors among the rubbles.

The quakes measured 6.2 on the moment magnitude scale and happened at 16:53 local time (12:23 GMT), according to Tehran University's Seismological Center. The epicenter was initially determined to be at 38.49 degrees north latitude and 46.87 degrees east longitude in Ahar city of East Azarbaijan, according to Iranian Seismological Center.

ٍ East Azarbaijan earthquake

Interior Minister Mustafa Mohammad Najjar and Eastern Azerbaijan Province governor have held a meeting to estimate devastation and needs.

"At least 60 villages sustained damage ranging from 50 - 70%, while 6 other villages had been razed to the ground," a local authority was quoted as saying by ISNA.

Officials had to use radios because of disrupted telephone communications in the region and dispatched helicopters to remote villages.

Iran is one of the most seismically active countries in the world, being crossed by several major fault lines.

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-built citadel.

East Azarbaijan earthquake

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.

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