SARBAGH, Iran - A powerful earthquake flattened villages and collapsed mud-brick homes in the mountains of central Iran on Tuesday, killing at least 420 people and injuring hundreds.
The magnitude-6.4 quake was centered on the outskirts of Zarand, a town of about 15,000 people in Kerman province 600 miles southeast of Tehran, according to the seismological unit of Tehran University's Geophysics Institute.
It struck the mountainous region at 5:55 a.m., damaging at least 40 villages with a total population of about 30,000 people, officials said.
>>> The eMJey community would like to extend our condolences, deepest sympathies, and prayers to the families of the victims.