Photo: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA/Shutterstock
According to theWashington Post, a 4.9 magnitude earthquake hit the southwestern part of the country around 9 a.m. local time before a 4.5-magnitude aftershock struck a half-hour later. There were no immediate reports of casualties, local news outletssaid. A 5.1 magnitude earthquake hit the area less than two weeks ago.
Wednesday’s quakes struck within 12 miles of the city of Borazjan, located near the Bushehr nuclear power plant,CNNreported.
There were no reports of damage at the facility, but seven people were injured, including four who were hospitalized, theTimes of Israelsaid.
The plant was designed to withstand earthquakesup to magnitude 9, thePostreported. It was opened in 2011with assistance from Russia, the Associated Press noted.
Iran has suffered deadly earthquakes in the past, with a 5.9-magnitude earthquake killing 452 in November 2017 and a 6.6 magnitude earthquake that killed 26,000 people in 2003, CNNnoted.
President Donald Trump.Evan Vucci/AP/Shutterstock
The drone strike was in response to thekilling of a U.S. civilian contract workerin a rocket attack on Dec. 27 that also injured a number of service workers, according to ABC News.
Shortly after the strikes began, a Boeing 737 jet carrying 176 people crashed in Iran, killing everyone on board. The cause of the crash remains unclear.The Washington Postreported that Iranian officials said the plane likely crashed due to mechanical difficulties, but the outlet also reported that the Ukrainian embassy in Iran later took down a statement concurring with that assessment and ruling out terrorism.
Ukraine plane crash.Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
According toCNN, atweetfrom Ukrainian foreign minister Vadym Prystaiko said that 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans, and three British nationals died in the crash.
source: people.com
