At least five people were killed and 120 injured in an earthquake that struck northwestern Iran on Thursday night, Iranian state television said.
The main quake, measuring 5,9 on the Richter scale, had its epicenter 120 kilometers southeast of Tabriz and its epicenter was just 8 kilometers, according to the seismological center of the University of Tehran's Institute of Geophysics.
It was followed by five aftershocks between 4,0 and 4,8 on the Richter scale from 22:50 to 01:40 [local time; 03:20 and 07:10 Cyprus time) in the Turkmenchai area, according to data from the same institute.
In statements made by telephone on state television, the governor of the province, Mohammad Reza Purmohammadi, stressed that according to the information so far, 5 people were killed and "30 houses" were destroyed. Another 120 people were injured, according to state television. A first report released earlier said three people had been killed and 3 injured.
Search-and-rescue operations are under way in 41 villages, but property damage, which at first estimates is limited, is concentrated in two communities, according to Iranian state television.
Many residents of the affected areas fled their homes after the first quake. At around 05:30, the FARS news agency reported that many citizens had returned to their homes and the situation seemed to be normalizing after the initial panic.
Iran, over many tectonic plates, is penetrated by many faults and is characterized as a highly seismic region. The most recent major earthquake occurred in November 2017, when a 7,3 magnitude earthquake in Kermanshah province (west) had killed 620 people.
In 2003, a magnitude 6,6 earthquake shook the southeastern province of Kerman, claimed the lives of 33.000 people and leveled the ancient city of Bam and its citadel, a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Educational Organization. (UNESCO).
The deadliest earthquake in 30 years, measuring 7,4 on the Richter scale, killed at least 40.000 people and left half a million homeless in the north in 1990.
Source: RES