According to the United States Geological Survey, the first quake had measured at 4.9 magnitude just before 9 a.m.
What We Know:
- According to CNN, at approximately 30 minutes later the second earthquake took place but this time it measured at 4.5 magnitude and it struck the same province which runs along the Iranian coastline.
- The quake epicenter was within 20 kilometers of the city of Borazjan, which is a short distance from the country’s Bushehr nuclear power plant. Bushehr is not only Iran’s first nuclear plant but was the first civilian reactor in the Middle East.
- Another earthquake struck the same region less than two weeks ago and it measured at a 5.1 magnitude.
- This is not the first tragedy that has hit Iran, the two quakes happened hours after Iran fired a number of missiles at two Iraqi bases which housed US troops. This was a retaliation for the US killing Iranian General Qasem Soleimani last week. In the wake of the of Soleimani’s assassination, Iran said that it was ending its 2015 nuclear deal commitment with world powers.
- Iran has had a few earthquakes recently. In November, at least five people passed away and 330 others were injured when a 5.9 magnitude earthquake hit northwestern Iran. While a quake in 2017 killed 452 people.
The deadliest quake occurred in 2003 when a magnitude of 6.6 earthquake hit Iranian’s city of Bam and killed about 26,000 people.
