Earthquake of 4 magnitude hits parts of Assam
Guwahati, Feb 12: An earthquake of 4 magnitude hit the central part of Assam on Sunday, an official bulletin said.
There was no immediate report of any loss of life or damage to property, it said.
The earthquake was recorded at 4:18 pm, and the epicentre was in Nagaon district on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra river, the National Center for Seismology said in a report.
It also said the depth of the quake was 10 km.
The epicentre was around 160 km east of Guwahati, near Hojai in central Assam.
People in the neighbouring West Karbi Anglong, Karbi Anglong, Golaghat and Morigaon districts also felt the tremor, besides those in Sonitpur on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra river.
The northeastern states fall in the high seismic zone, and earthquakes frequently hit the region.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
At least 19 killed as methane leak causes explosion at eastern Iran coal mine, state TV reports
Tehran (AP/PTI): A methane leak sparked an explosion at a coal mine in eastern Iran, killing at least 19 people and injuring another 17, Iranian state television reported Sunday.
The report said the deaths happened at a coal mine in Tabas, some 540 kilometers (335 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran.
Authorities were sending emergency personnel to the area after the blast late Saturday, it said. Around 70 people had been working there at the time of the blast.
Oil-producing Iran is also rich in a variety of minerals. Iran annually consumes some 3.5 million tons of coal but only extracts about 1.8 million tons from its mines per year. The rest is imported, often consumed in the country's steel mills.
This is not the first disaster to strike Iran's mining industry. In 2013, 11 workers were killed in two separate mining incidents. In 2009, 20 workers were killed in several incidents. In 2017, a coal mine explosion killed at least 42 people.
Lax safety standards and inadequate emergency services in mining areas are often blamed for the fatalities.
