Strong Earthquake Kills 5 in Southern Iran

People gather in front of their residential building in the Gulf emirate of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in the early hours of 02 July 2022. A recorded earthquake of magnitude 6.5 has hit southern Iran with tremors felt in Dubai, UAE. (EPA)
People gather in front of their residential building in the Gulf emirate of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in the early hours of 02 July 2022. A recorded earthquake of magnitude 6.5 has hit southern Iran with tremors felt in Dubai, UAE. (EPA)
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Strong Earthquake Kills 5 in Southern Iran

People gather in front of their residential building in the Gulf emirate of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in the early hours of 02 July 2022. A recorded earthquake of magnitude 6.5 has hit southern Iran with tremors felt in Dubai, UAE. (EPA)
People gather in front of their residential building in the Gulf emirate of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in the early hours of 02 July 2022. A recorded earthquake of magnitude 6.5 has hit southern Iran with tremors felt in Dubai, UAE. (EPA)

Five people were killed and 44 others injured in a magnitude 6.3 earthquake in southern Iran on Saturday, state television reported.

Rescue teams were deployed near the epicenter, Sayeh Khosh village, which is home to around 300 people in Hormozgan province, some 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) south of the capital, Tehran, the report said.

People went into the streets as aftershocks continued to jolt the area after the early morning quake, which also damaged buildings and infrastructure.

The earthquake was felt in many neighboring countries, the report said.

The area has seen several moderate earthquakes in recent weeks. In November, one man died following two magnitude 6.4 and 6.3 earthquakes.

Iran lies on major seismic faults and experiences one earthquake a day on average. In 2003, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake flattened the historic city of Bam, killing 26,000 people. A magnitude 7 earthquake that struck western Iran in 2017 killed more than 600 people and injured more than 9,000.



At Least 52 Dead after Helene's Deadly March Across Southeastern US

John Taylor puts up an American flag on his destroyed property in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
John Taylor puts up an American flag on his destroyed property in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
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At Least 52 Dead after Helene's Deadly March Across Southeastern US

John Taylor puts up an American flag on his destroyed property in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
John Taylor puts up an American flag on his destroyed property in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Hurricane Helene caused at least 52 deaths and billions of dollars of destruction across a wide swath of the southeastern US as it raced through, and more than 3 million customers went into the weekend without any power and for some a continued threat of floods.

Helene blew ashore in Florida's Big Bend region as a Category 4 hurricane late Thursday packing winds of 140 mph (225 kph) and then quickly moved through Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee, uprooting trees, splintering homes and sending creeks and rivers over their banks and straining dams.

Western North Carolina was essentially cut off because of landslides and flooding that forced the closure of Interstate 40 and other roads. Video shows sections of Asheville underwater.
There were hundreds of water rescues, none more dramatic than in rural Unicoi County in East Tennessee, where dozens of patients and staff were plucked by helicopter from the roof of a hospital that was surrounded by water from a flooded river.
The storm, now a post-tropical cyclone, was expected to hover over the Tennessee Valley on Saturday and Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said. Several flood and flash flood warnings remained in effect in parts of the southern and central Appalachians, while high wind warnings also covered parts of Tennessee and Ohio.
At least 48 people have been killed in the storm; among them were three firefighters, a woman and her one-month-old twins, and an 89-year-old woman whose house was struck by a falling tree. According to an Associated Press tally, the deaths occurred in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

Moody’s Analytics said it expects $15 billion to $26 billion in property damage.