A 5.1-magnitude earthquake hits northeastern Iran

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Tehran, Iran

An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale shook South Khorasan Province in northeastern Iran today, Saturday, local officials said, and its waves were felt in neighboring provinces.

The epicenter of the quake, which was reported at around 16:54 p.m. local time (1326 GMT), was three kilometers (1.86 miles) from the city of Becharfieh, according to the Institute of Geophysics of the University of Tehran.

She added that the quake occurred at a depth of eight kilometers shallow and we felt it more strongly and widely.

The earthquake ripples were also felt in neighboring cities, including Ferdous, Tapas and Akhoundi, local officials in South Khorasan said, adding that rescue teams have been dispatched to the affected areas.

Damage to property has been reported in some of the worst affected areas amid adverse weather conditions, although the extent of the damage is still being assessed.

The region was hit by a 5.4-magnitude earthquake earlier this month, at a depth of 11 km, and its epicenter was in the Ersk region, 23 km from the city of Becharrafieh.

Local crisis management officials said Saturday’s quake was a “large aftershock” that may have caused damage to buildings that sustained cracks in the previous quake.

But so far, no casualties have been reported from the quake.

Iran is located in a seismically active region and has witnessed many catastrophic earthquakes in the past years.

The most devastating earthquake to hit the country in modern history was in 2013 with a magnitude of 6.7 when at least 34,000 people were killed in the city of Bam in the southeastern Kerman province.

In recent months, a series of moderate to high intensity earthquakes have been reported in many northern and southern provinces, resulting in casualties and collateral damage.

Recently, in early October, about 400 people were injured after a 5.4-magnitude earthquake hit West Azerbaijan province in northwestern Iran.

In July, at least five people died and more than 80 were injured when a 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck the southern province of Hormozgan along the Persian Gulf coast.

This came a week after a 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck the same province, although no injuries were reported at the time.

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