Three strong earthquakes and several aftershocks jolted western Iran overnight, killing at least 70 people and injuring about 1,200 others, state television reported today.
The initial quake of magnitude 4.7 struck a mountainous region in western Iran last night. It was followed by a quake of magnitude 5.1 that struck Boroujerd and Doroud, two industrial cities in western Iran, at 11:06pm local time yesterday, state television said.
A third tremor of magnitude 6.0 hit Doroud and surrounding villages at 4:47am local time today, the television reported. A total of 70 bodies had been recovered from houses in destroyed in Silakhor, a region north of Doroud, the television reported.
The provincial head of the Unexpected Disaster Committee, Ali Barani, said no fewer than 200 villages were damaged, and some were flattened.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed her "deep sympathy" to the Iranians hit by the earthquake and offered US assistance.
The US military provided aid to the residents of Bam after the south Iranian city was devastated by an earthquake in 2003. Washington and Tehran have no diplomatic relations are currently at loggerheads over US claims that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons - a charge Iran denies.
Most of the 1,200 people injured had been in bed when the quake struck, the television said. After the first quake struck, police in the city of Boroujerd and the town of Doroud toured the streets with loudspeakers urging people to leave their homes for fear of subsequent tremors.
The measure is thought to have contributed to a lower death toll than is usual in Iran for quakes of this magnitude. The quake in the middle of the night caused panic, with citizens in Doroud running out of their homes. Many spent the night in open space, residents said.
"We are afraid to get back home. I spent the night with my family and guests in open space last night," Doroud resident Mahmoud Chaharmiri said.