An earthquake in northern Iran claimed the lives of at least 24 people on Saturday, reports Iranian news agency IRNA.
Officials say the death toll is likely to rise. The deputy head of civil affairs at the governor’s office in Mazandaran, Na’sir A-Din Shahrokhi, said the quake has destroyed part of the Kandovan road, cutting off 40 villages in the cities of Noshahr and Chalous.
The epicenter of the tremor was identified at Baladeh, just 45 miles north of Tehran, in Mazandaran province.
A day after the earthquake another tragedy hit the region, when a helicopter crashed returning from the quake-hit areas, killing nine men including the governor of Qazvin province, Mas’oud Emami, and the provincial police chief.
The earthquake, registering 5.5 on the Richter scale, sent terrified residents in many cities, including in the capital of Tehran, onto the streets. Some residents in Tehran spent the night outdoors, fearing further tremors.
The last earthquake in Iran was devastating, as 41,000 people were killed in the ancient city of Bam on December 26, 2003. Thirteen years earlier, another quake occurred, in which 50,000 people were killed in Gilan, northern Iran.