Northern Iran rattled by strong earthquake

TEHRAN, Jan 10 (AFP) - An earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale shook northern Iran late Monday, the state news agency IRNA reported without saying whether there had been casualties.
The quake struck at 10:16 pm (1846 GMT), with its epicenter in the Golestan province in the northeast of the country.
"Inhabitants were frightened and emerged onto the streets of the main cities of the region," IRNA said.
An earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale devastated the southeastern Iranian city of Bam in December 2003, killing more than 30,000 people.

01/10/2005 20:18 GMT - AFP