tecdec

A strong earthquake of 6.5 magnitude shook Costa Rica on Sunday night.The country's Public Safety Ministry said it had reports of two serious injuries as a result of the quake, but did not provide additional details. Electricity was knocked out in some areas as power lines and poles fell, but there were no reports of major infrastructure damage from the tremor, which hit in a lightly populated area along the Pacific Coast. The government reported some rockslides obstructing highways near the epicentre. The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was centered about 10 miles (15 kilometers) southeast of the town of Jaco, which is about 60 (100 kilometers) miles southwest of the capital, San Jose. The quake was at a depth of about 12 miles (20 kilometers). Four minutes after the initial earthquake, a magnitude 5.2 aftershock struck.

A powerful magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit Iran and Iraq on Sunday killing 210 people, state media in the two countries said, as rescuers searched for dozens trapped under rubble. A quake registering a magnitude between 7 and 7.9 can inflict widespread and heavy damage. Moreover, many houses in rural areas of Iran are made of mud bricks that can crumble easily in a quake. Officials expected the casualty toll to rise when search and rescue teams reached remote areas of Iran. The earthquake was felt in several provinces of Iran but the hardest hit province was Kermanshah, which announced three days of mourning. The main hospital of the capital of the county was severely damaged and could not treat hundreds of injured people who were taken there, the head of the Iranian emergency services, Pirhossein Koulivand said. Electricity was cut off in several Iranian and Iraqi cities, and fears of aftershocks sent thousands of people in both countries out onto the streets and par...