Two Earthquakes Hit Iran ‘Close to Nuclear Power Plant’

Two earthquakes measuring 4.9 and 4.5 in magnitudes hit Iran on Wednesday, Jan. 8, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

The first 4.9 magnitude earthquake struck about 6 miles southeast of Borazjan, a city in and the capital of Dashtestan County, Bushehr Province, at around 2:20 a.m. and had a depth of 10 miles.

Strategic Sentinel reports on their Twitter that the earthquake struck close to the Bushehr nuclear plant and that the depth and epicenter indicate it was a natural event. A similar earthquake struck in December last year, they tweeted.

A second 4.5 magnitude quake struck about an hour later on Wednesday morning with its epicenter at 10 plus miles southeast of the same city. It also measured 6 miles in depth, USGS said.

There are no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The earthquakes come just hours after Iranian officials said late Tuesday that it had conducted missile strikes on Iraqi military bases that hold U.S. troops in retaliation for the death of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani’s death in Baghdad, according to Iranian state-run media outlets.

Hours after the missiles were fired, a Ukrainian plane carrying at least 170 passengers and crew crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport.

State television reported that the plane crashed at 6.22 a.m. local time, and four helicopters and 22 ambulances were sent to the crash site but were battling severe fires. The plane went down just a few hours after the...

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