5.6 Earthquake Hits Desert in Iran

[Hissyspit]

Source: MSNBC

Report: Earthquake hits desert in central Iran
State TV gives no information on any casualties or damage

Updated: 17 minutes ago
TEHRAN, Iran - A 5.6-magnitude earthquake has shaken Iran's central desert, Iranian state TV reported Monday. The agency had no immediate information on casualties or damage.

This breaking story will be updated


Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19291164/

[MNDemNY]

1. Damage now tops $80.00

[Javaman]

2. Having the fortune to live through the "big ones" here in the states...

a 5.6, although bad, is not that bad. But then again given the nature of Iranian homes that are the victim of low cost construction, it might be bad for them.

I'm curious as to see how the warmongers wanting to bomb Iran react to this.

[HeeBGBz]

3. Hopefully, it's just an earthquake and not a nuke

:sarcasm:

[Drunken Irishman]

4. Obviously Bush has fixed mother nature to pull this stunt.

Just another step in our invasion of Iran. :sarcasm:

[krispos42]

5. Hmmm... ever see "Conspiracy Theory"?

Mel Gibson's character claims that NASA has an earthquake machine that they can put up on the Shuttle. And it's used to try to assassinate some high US official in Turkey.

Now, what's in orbit right now? The Shuttle.

What's happening in Iran and Hawaii today?

Earthquakes.

Hmmmm....

:tinfoilhat:

[rayofreason]

6. Unfortunately...

...the Islamic Republic does not have strong earthquake building codes, and what building codes there are are hampered by corruption. So even a minor quake can have devestating effects.

The Northridge earthquake was 6.7 magnitude and killed 57, injuring 9000 (many of these were minor injuries). The 6.6 magnitude Bam earthquake killed at least 26,000 and injured many more. Bam was leveled.

It is too easy to forget some of the advantages of living in a rich, law-abiding society. We have expensive building codes that we assume are broadly adhered to, with corruption being only a minor problem. As a consequence we are much better prepared when earthquakes strike. In the past couple of decades, the scientific community has realized the importance of the New Madrid quake of of 1812 (7.7 magnitude - remember the scale is logarithmic). As a consequence there has been a lot of expenditure for seismic retrofit in places like Memphis (e.g., http://earthquakeadvisor.com/articles/memphis1.html). Most people don't know that this is happening, and don't know that a lot of money is being spent. That's what it really means to live in a rich country.