| Mene mene tekel upharsin... |
Fearful residents of a northern Iranian city spent the chilly night sleeping in parks and streets after a 5.8-magnitude earthquake shook their buildings and injured about 110 people, state television reported yesterday. The quake rocked Agh Ghola, 560km northeast of Tehran, at about 10.17pm on Monday. The quake, which was followed by two aftershocks, caused cracks in some roofs and walls in the rural area. It was not clear how most of the people were injured. Ebrahim Karimi, head of the Emergency Department for Golestan prov-ince, said most of the injuries were minor. "Some were injured when they panicked and rushed to safe places," he told the television station. The television report said many of the city's 120,000 residents, fearing aftershocks or collapses, stayed outdoors until sunrise. The epicentre of the quake was in Golestan province, in northern Iran near the Turkmenistan border.