MAGNITUDE 6.2 QUAKE HITS SOUTHEASTERN IRAN – SEISMOLOGICAL CENTER

TEHRAN: A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck Iran’s southeastern province of Kerman on Tuesday, the Iranian seismological center reported, though media said there were no immediate reports of damage. “The rescue teams present in the region have not reported any casualties or damage yet,” the head of rescue operations for the Red Crescent, Morteza Salimi, told state broadcaster IRINN half an hour after the quake. The quake struck at 12:13 p.m. (0843 GMT) and was measured as magnitude 5.9 by the US Geological Survey. Iran sits on several fault lines, and Tuesday’s quake comes less than a day after a 6.0-magnitude tremor struck Kermanshah province along the border with Iraq. On November 12, Kermanshah was hit by a major 7.3-magnitude quake that killed 620 people according to the latest toll provided Monday by Tasnim news agency.

6 NKOREA CREW MEMBERS TO BE DEPORTED – JAPAN

TOKYO: Six of 10 North Korean “fishermen” rescued from a tiny wooden boat drifting off northern Japan will be deported back to their country, an immigration official told Agence France-Presse on Tuesday. “The immigration office in Hokkaido has started deportation procedures” for the six crew members, immigration official Koichi Tanaka said. Three of the crew have been arrested on suspicion of theft after they reportedly admitted to “taking out” electronic products from a remote Japanese island where they landed briefly to take refuge. They are suspected of stealing a variety of items—including fridges, TV sets and even a door knob. The ten men were first spotted by coastguard as their dilapidated boated drifted into waters off the island of Hokkaido. One of the men is still in hospital, reportedly suffering from a stomach illness, said Tanaka.

EXPLOSION AT MAJOR AUSTRIAN GAS HUB, 1 DEAD

VIENNA: An explosion rocked one of Europe’s biggest gas pipeline hubs in Austria on Tuesday, leaving one person dead and 18 injured, emergency services said. The incident happened at Baumgarten east of Vienna, Austria’s largest reception point and the main distribution hub for gas imports from Russia, Norway and elsewhere. “An explosion occurred at 8:45 a.m. (0745 GMT), followed by a fire,” police spokesman Edmund Tragschitz told Agence France-Presse, adding that the cause was not immediately clear. “Things are under control,” he said. He later put the number of people hurt, including one seriously as well as those with minor injuries, at around 60. But Red Cross spokeswoman Sonja Kellner told the Austria Press Agency that one person had been killed and 18 injured. The Baumgarten gas hub receives some 40 billion cubic meters of gas annually and redistributes it elsewhere in Europe including to Germany and northern Italy.