A magnitude 6.7 struck the Silk Road city of Bam in southeastern Iran on Friday killing thousands.
Iranian television said the quake leveled about 60 percent of the houses in Bam, 630 miles southeast of the capital, killing many people as they slept.
Earthquakes in the last 25 years have caused thousands of deaths in Iran. A magnitude 7.7 temblor killed 25,000 in 1978, and most recently, on June 22, 2002, a magnitude 6 quake killed 500 people.
A strong earthquake occurred at 01:56:56 (UTC) on Friday, December 26, 2003.
The magnitude 6.7 event has been located in SOUTHEASTERN IRAN.
(This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)
Friday, December 26, 2003 at 01:56:56 (UTC) = Coordinated Universal Time
Friday, December 26, 2003 at 5:26:56 AM = local time at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
180 km (115 miles) SE of Kerman, Iran
255 km (160 miles) E of Sirjan, Iran
260 km (165 miles) WSW of Zahedan, Iran
975 km (610 miles) SE of TEHRAN, Iran
