A 5.0 magnitude earthquake struck the Kashmar region in Iran’s Khorasan Razavi Province on Tuesday, June 18, causing significant damage and loss of life. The quake, which occurred at 1:24 PM local time, had its epicenter between Kashmar and Khalilabad, just north of the village of Kasrina, at a shallow depth of 6 kilometers.
According to state media reports, the earthquake has resulted in the deaths of at least four individuals and injuries to more than 120 people. Among the injured, the condition of four is reported to be critical, and 35 people are currently hospitalized. Hojatollah Shariatmadari, the governor of Kashmar, confirmed that two of the fatalities occurred due to the collapse of a building facade in the city, while the other two victims were from the village of Zendejan, where a residential building collapsed.
The Iranian Red Crescent Society has released videos showing ongoing rescue operations and debris removal efforts in the affected areas. “Several citizens are trapped under the rubble, and emergency responders are working tirelessly to assist them,” Shariatmadari claimed.
Watch and judge how the regime in #Iran has been handling the aftermath of the #earthquake that occurred in Khoy, West Azerbaijan province pic.twitter.com/yP4LoXXtcM
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) February 15, 2023
The Geophysics Institute of Tehran University recorded the earthquake at precisely 1:24:46 PM on June 18. The Global Seismographic Network also reported the quake, noting it struck at a depth of 10 kilometers, approximately 2 kilometers from Kashmar. A secondary tremor with a magnitude of 2.7 followed at 1:58:20 PM, adding to the distress in the region.
The recent earthquake in Kashmar brings back painful memories of the devastating Kermanshah quake in 2017. That earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.3, struck the Iran-Iraq border region and was one of the deadliest in recent history, resulting in the deaths of over 600 people and injuring thousands more. The Kermanshah quake exposed significant flaws in Iran’s building infrastructure, particularly the widespread use of substandard materials and poor construction practices in residential buildings. Despite the lessons from Kermanshah, the persistence of unsafe housing standards and the prioritization of profit over safety by state-affiliated contractors continue to put countless lives at risk in seismically active areas.
