TEHRAN (Iran News) – The government will provide some 3 trillion rials (about $71 million) loans for quake-hit East Azarbaijan, to make up for the damage caused by an earthquake in the northwestern province of East Azarbaijan, Majid Joudi, an official with the Housing Foundation has said. A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck Tark county in East […]
TEHRAN (Iran News) – The government will provide some 3 trillion rials (about $71 million) loans for quake-hit East Azarbaijan, to make up for the damage caused by an earthquake in the northwestern province of East Azarbaijan, Majid Joudi, an official with the Housing Foundation has said.
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck Tark county in East Azarbaijan province on Friday, which killed six people and injured over 580 others.
“More than 3,000 residential units have been destroyed that need reconstruction and 1,500 must be repaired,” IRNA quoted Joudi as saying on Monday.
“Each quake-affected family will receive 300 million rials (about $7,000) in non-repayable loans and some 400 million rials (around $9,500) in low-interest loans,” he stated.
The families whose houses have been completely demolished will be granted 100 million rials (about $2,400) to rent a house, he highlighted.
More than 40 aftershocks have been reported, while emergency and evaluation teams are operating and Red Crescent teams have been dispatched to the area.
Provincial governor, Mohammad-Reza Pourmohammadi, told Tasnim that at least 400 houses had been damaged or fully destroyed, that government-aided loans for quake-hit East Azarbaijan can make it up for the quake-hit parts.
Iran sits on a major fault line and has experienced many earthquakes in the past.
More than 400 people were killed and thousands injured when a powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck near the Iran-Iraq border in November 2017.
The deadliest occurred in 2003 when a magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck the southeastern city of Bam, killing some 26,000 people.
- source : tehrantimes, irannews
