It was only a week ago that Iran was shaken by a major 6.1 earthquake, striking just 100 km away from the Busher nuclear power plant: a location so "opportune" some, so inclined, saw in this phenomenon anoter demonstration of the HAARP's capabilities. Those same people will then hardly be surprised to learn that moments ago the entire middle east, from Dubai to Delhi, shook in the aftermath of yet another massive earthquake, this time measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, which once again was located as the USGS reports, some 86 km East South East of Khash, Iran. According to preliminary reports, the USGS says there is possibility of heavy damage in area of epicenter, and an estimated 359,000 people felt very strong to severe shaking. USGS also estimates that 16K may have felt 'severe' shaking, 343K 'very strong' shaking, 1.7M 'strong' shaking; 1.1M 'moderate' shaking. An Iranian official was promptly on the tape saying hundreds of dead expected from quake in southeast of country, even as the Russian company that built the Busher NPP saying there was no damage from the quake. How much more shaking can either the existing Iranian nuclear power plant, or the much maligned nuclear facility in Fordow, sustain before they go off in a big glowing mushroom cloud: that is the question.
From Al Jazeera [9]:
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake has struck southeastern Iran near the border with Pakistan, reportedly killing at least 40 people with casualties expected to rise.
The US Geological Survey reported on Tuesday that the epicentre of the quake was 86km southeast of Khash, Iran.
The Iranian news agency FARS is reporting 40 initial casualties.
An Iranian government official said on Tuesday he expected hundreds of deaths from the earthquake.
"It was the biggest earthquake in Iran in 40 years and we are expecting hundreds of dead," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Al Jazeera's Saira Jaffer, reporting from Islamabad, said tremors were felt across Karachi and Balochistan.
Many buildings in Karachi were reportedly evacuated.
Also reporting from Islamabad, Imtiaz Tyab said that so far there have been no reported casualties in Pakistan.
In the Indian capital New Delhi, tall buildings shook sending people running into the streets, witnesses told Reuters.
Across the Gulf, people also evacuated shaking buildings in Qatar and Dubai, residents said. Dubai has the world's tallest tower, the 828-metre Burj Khalifa.
Last week, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake also hit Iran killing at least 37 people and injuring 850 more in the country's southwest.
In December 2003, a big earthquake struck the southern city of Bam. It killed 31,000 people - about a quarter of the population - and destroyed the city's ancient mud-built citadel.
From the USGS [10]:
Event Time
2013-04-16 10:44:13 UTC
2013-04-16 15:14:13 UTC+04:30 at epicenter
2013-04-16 06:44:13 UTC-04:00 system time
Location
28.056°N 62.080°E depth=15.2km (9.4mi)
Nearby Cities
86km (53mi) ESE of Khash, Iran
167km (104mi) NE of Iranshahr, Iran
199km (124mi) SE of Zahedan, Iran
237km (147mi) SSW of Rudbar, Afghanistan
603km (375mi) NE of Muscat, Oman
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