Dozens killed, more than 850 injured in quakes in Iran - UPDATED

April 1
16:20

There are no Azerbaijani citizens among the earthquake victims in Iran, the Azerbaijani ambassador in Iran, Abbasali Hasanov told Trend.

The Azerbaijani president, Ilham Aliyev has already expressed his condolence to his Iranian counterpart regarding this natural disaster, the ambassador said.

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March 31
16:53

Head of the Natural Disasters Headquarters in Lorestan Province Ali Barani told IRNA the quakes have so far taken 54 lives and injured 850, with the villages in Dasht Silakhor, a region between the quake-stricken cities of Dorud and Borujerd, and the epicenter of the quake, suffering 30 to 100 percent damage.

Ambulances, blankets, food, heaters and medicine have been cited as the most urgently needed items.

Based on a related report, two relatively strong earthquakes caused panic in the cities of Arak and Shazand in Markazi (Central) province between late Thursday and early Friday.

The quakes occurred at 23:15 (07:45 GMT) and 04:50 (01:20 GMT).

The epicenter of the second quake with a magnitude of six degrees on the Richter scale was registered in Chalanchovan in Doroud city.

The quake left no damage or casualties in Markazi province, according to Markazi Natural Disaster Headquarters on Friday.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday instructed the interior minister to mobilize all existing facilities and capabilities to rush aid to the quake-stricken civilians in western Lorestan Province.

"The Iranian nation is deeply moved by the killer quakes in the cities of Doroud and Borujerd which took the lives of many civilians," read a message issued by the President immediately after the quakes.

Condoling families of the victims, the president prayed for the recovery of the injured civilians.

"It is imperative to mobilize all the existing facilities to assist the injured civilians and address their needs immediately," underlined the president.