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People Flee Homes as Deadly Quakes Strike Southern Iran

Damage caused by a previous earthquake in Iran. Reuters file photo
Damage caused by a previous earthquake in Iran. Reuters file photo
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People Flee Homes as Deadly Quakes Strike Southern Iran

Damage caused by a previous earthquake in Iran. Reuters file photo
Damage caused by a previous earthquake in Iran. Reuters file photo

Two strong earthquakes struck southern Iran near the port of Bandar Abbas on Sunday, prompting residents to flee their homes and killing at least one person, state TV reported.

The quakes measured 6.3 and 6.4 magnitude, jolting the province of Hormozgan, state TV said.

"One person died after an electricity pole fell on him," Iranian state TV said, citing local officials.

The report said President Ebrahim Raisi ordered his senior vice-president, Mohammad Mokhber, to visit Hormozgan province as soon as possible.

Raisi also urged all responsible bodies to take care people who suffered injuries and damages.

Iran is crisscrossed by major geological fault lines and has suffered several devastating earthquakes in recent years.

The European Mediterranean Seismological Center put the magnitude of one of the quakes at 6.5 at a relatively shallow depth of 10 km.

"The quake was felt in several southern Iranian cities in Hormozgan province," an official told state TV, adding that rescue teams had been sent to the area.

State TV showed residents in Bandar Abbas fleeing their homes in panic. Iran's state news agency IRNA said there was no structural damage to homes in the area.

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China Discovers Cluster of New Mpox Strain

A woman walks on the Youyi Bridge at the Liangmahe river in Beijing, China on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
A woman walks on the Youyi Bridge at the Liangmahe river in Beijing, China on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
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China Discovers Cluster of New Mpox Strain

A woman walks on the Youyi Bridge at the Liangmahe river in Beijing, China on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
A woman walks on the Youyi Bridge at the Liangmahe river in Beijing, China on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Chinese health authorities said on Thursday they had detected the new mutated mpox strain clade Ib as the viral infection spreads to more countries after the World Health Organization declared a global public health emergency last year.
China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention said it had found a cluster outbreak of the Ib subclade that started with the infection a foreigner who has a history of travel and residence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Reuters reported.
Four further cases have been found in people infected after close contact with the foreigner. The patients' symptoms are mild and include skin rash and blisters.
Mpox spreads through close contact and causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions on the body. Although usually mild, it can be fatal in rare cases.
WHO last August declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years, following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that spread to neighboring countries.
The outbreak in DRC began with the spread of an endemic strain, known as clade I. But the clade Ib variant appears to spread more easily through routine close contact, including sexual contact.
The variant has spread from DRC to neighboring countries, including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, triggering the emergency declaration from the WHO.
China said in August last year it would monitor people and goods entering the country for mpox.
The country's National Health Commission said mpox would be managed as a Category B infectious disease, enabling officials to take emergency measures such as restricting gatherings, suspending work and school, and sealing off areas when there is an outbreak of a disease.