Injury Toll Rises in Yasuj Quake

As many as 133 people were injured in an earthquake that struck near the southwestern capital province of Yasuj on Wednesday night. Earlier, media had reported that about 105 people had been wounded. Out of 133 persons injured, 32 were transferred to hospital on board of rescue helicopters, Tasnim News Agency reported, citing head of the provincial emergency medical center Jalal Pouranfard. The quake reportedly sent panicked people rushing out to the streets. Many people also spent the night outside in tents and their cars. The United States Geological Survey reported on May 2 that an earthquake of a magnitude 5.3 hit Yasuj at 08:08 a.m. local time (04:08 GMT). A representative of the Iranian National Disaster Management Organization said the earthquake had caused damage to the country’s infrastructure and power grids. Iran is placed on major fault lines and is prone to near-daily earthquakes. A Magnitude 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit western Iran in November 2017 killed more than 600 people.