Magnitude 5.4 Earthquake Hits Northwestern Iran
An earthquake of magnitude 5.4 has struck the northwestern Iran, in Western Azarbaijan Province Wednesday.
An earthquake of magnitude 5.4 has struck the northwestern Iran, in Western Azarbaijan Province Wednesday.
Iranian state media reported that rescue teams are dispatched to the quake-hit area in Khoy but have not reported any casualties yet.
Red Crescent official Morteza Moradipour told ISNA news agency that an earthquake of 5.4 magnitude hit Khoy city at 13:38 p.m.
According to him, the quake was at the depth of 12 kilometers.
He stated that about 20 minutes before the earthquake, a 3.6-magnitude foreshock was felt in the same area at a depth of 13 kilometers; therefore, the rescue teams had already been ready and dispatched to the earthquake-affected area promptly.
Iran is crisscrossed by major geological fault lines and is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world because it is located where the Arabian, Indian, and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.
Iran has had a terrible history of massive earthquakes in recent decades, with some killing up to tens of thousands of people and causing billions in damages, such as the magnitude 6.6 quake in Kerman province in 2003 that killed 31,000 people and flattened the ancient city of Bam.
