- An earthquake of 5.9 M at a depth of 10 km occurred in western Iran on 18 April at 6.41 UTC (11.11 local time). The epicentre was located approximately 26 km north-east of Bandar Ganaveh (Genaveh County, Bushehr Province), a city on northern Persian Gulf coast, 100 km far from Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant. The earthquake was followed by a series of aftershocks in the same area.
- USGS PAGER estimates that up to 2,000 people were exposed to very strong shaking and up to 75,000 to strong shaking.
- The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reports, as of 19 April, six injured people, 1,179 affected households and a number of destroyed or damaged houses.
- The Iranian Red Crescent Society has provided 500 relief tents, ten assessment teams and ten operational vehicles for the affected population. Three field hospitals had been established and 59 ambulances dispatched to the affected area. Since most of Iran’s provinces, including Bushehr are in “Red” COVID-19 category, evacuations in temporary shelters, as a quick standard response to the earthquake, raise concerns.
