Report: 5.5 quake hits Mourmouri, northern Iranian village, 8 reported hurt
Iranian women and a child stand outside their damaged house in the village of Chah Ghanbar after an earthquake struck southeastern Iran in December 2010.
A 5.5. magnitude earthquake today injured eight and reportedly terrified residents of Mourmouri, a small town near the Iran-Iraq border, the semi-official Mehr news agency said today, according to The Associated Press.
The report said villagers ran out of their homes in panic when the quake hit late this afternoon, possibly fearful of a return to 2003, when a 6.6 magnitude earthquake in the southeastern city of Bam killed 26,000 people, said AP.
More from GlobalPost: Moderate earthquake rattles Southern California
Mourmouri lies on the active Kazerun fault line, which divides the fractious Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates that gave rise to Zagros mountains range separating Iran and Iraq, according to The International Business Times.
Iran is situated on a large number of fault lines and is believed to suffer quakes daily, most of them small, said AP.
The article you just read is free because dedicated readers and listeners like you chose to support our nonprofit newsroom. Our team works tirelessly to ensure you hear the latest in international, human-centered reporting every weekday. But our work would not be possible without you. We need your help.
Make a gift today to help us reach our $25,000 goal and keep The World going strong. Every gift will get us one step closer.