A strong earthquake that hit northern Iran early on Saturday killed at least 500 people and injured around another 1,200, the official IRNA news agency said.
The quake, measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale struck, at 0259 GMT. It was centred about 115 km southwest of the provincial capital of Qazvin, which lies to the west of Tehran.
IRNA quoted the head of the provincial Red Crescent Society, Majid Shalviri, as saying most of the deaths occurred in the Bou'in-Zahra area.
Mohammad Hossein Parvinian, deputy governor of Qazvin province, told the news agency that "50 to 90 percent" of 10 villages were damaged and that rescue teams had been sent to the region.(Albawaba.com)
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