Death toll in Iran quake raised to at least 250
Source: AP-Excite
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Twin earthquakes in Iran have killed at least 250 people and injured over 2,000, Iranian state television said on Sunday, after thousands spent the night outdoors after their villages were leveled and homes damaged in the country's northwest.
Images broadcast on the main news channel showed dozens of families sleeping on blankets laid out on the ground in parks. Some were crying, others shivering from chilly weather in the mountainous region hit by the quake, near neighboring Azerbaijan.
Over a thousand rescuers worked through the night to free people trapped under rubble and to reach some of the more remote villages affected. Television also showed people being evacuated on stretchers, while others underwent treatment for broken limbs and concussions on hospital beds.
By early afternoon on Sunday, state television was reporting that search operations had ceased. Hundreds of tents had been set up to house the homeless, it added.
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Medics treat an injured man after an earthquake in the city of Varzaqan in northwestern Iran, on Saturday, Aug. 11, 2012. A 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit the towns of Ahar, Haris and Varzaqan in East Azerbaijan province in northwestern Iran on Saturday, state TV said. Iran is located on seismic fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. It experiences at least one earthquake every day on average, although the vast majority are so small they go unnoticed. (AP Photo/Mehr News Agency, Ali Hamed Haghdoust)