A 5.4-magnitude earthquake hits northeastern Iran

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Tehran, Iran

An earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale struck West Azerbaijan province in northeastern Iran on Wednesday afternoon, emergency officials said.

The earthquake shook the city of Khoy, the most populous city in the province, located 807 kilometers northwest of the capital, Tehran.

According to the Iranian Seismological Center of the Institute of Geophysics of the University of Tehran, the earthquake occurred at 1:38 pm local time at a depth of 12 kilometers from the earth’s surface.

Residents of Tabriz, the capital of the region, told Anadolu Agency that the strong tremor was also felt in neighboring provinces, including eastern Azerbaijan.

There were no immediate reports of casualties, but damage was reported in some parts of Khoy, north of Urmia, the provincial capital.

Local media quoted the authorities in Khoy as saying that several teams had been dispatched to the worst-affected areas to assess the extent of the damage.

Officials of the Red Crescent Society of West Azerbaijan said that there were no reports of casualties in the quake, but the houses of several villages close to the epicenter were damaged.

In October, a 5.4-magnitude earthquake in the city injured nearly 400 people and partially or completely damaged hundreds of residential properties in urban and rural areas.

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 when at least 34,000 people died in the city of Bam in the southeastern province of Kerman. The magnitude of the earthquake was 6.7 on the Richter scale.

In recent months, a series of high and medium-intensity earthquakes has hit provinces in southern and northern Iran.

Last month, a 5.1-magnitude earthquake shook northeastern Iran’s South Khorasan Province, weeks after a 5.4-magnitude earthquake was reported in the same province, with its epicenter in Irsek district.

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

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