Earthquakes rock Iran-Iraq border

Three earthquakes rocked Iran within a few hours of each other on Thursday, with the strongest being felt in Iraq's capital Baghdad.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab & agencies

11 January, 2018

Iran experiences earthquakes almost daily [Stock image: Getty]

A series of moderate earthquakes shook Iran on Thursday but there were no immediate reports of victims or damage.

The strongest of the three quakes, measuring magnitude 5.6, hit the western province of Kermanshah near the border with Iraq at 10.29 am (6.59 GMT), according to the Iranian seismology centre.

Reports in Iraq said the tremor was felt in the capital Baghdad, though no casualties or damage were reported.

It was followed by a 5.4-magnitude tremor in the same region. Earlier in the morning, a 5.1-magnitude quake had rattled Kerman province in southern Iran.

The official IRNA news agency said the tremor rocked the village of Hojedk, located about 700 kilometres (400 miles) south of Tehran. It said the quake's depth was 10 kilometres (6.2 miles).

There was no immediate report on damages or casualties in any of the incidents, state media said.

On Saturday, another earthquake with a 5.1 magnitude jolted the country's western province of Kermanshah.

The temblor rocked the Kurdish town of Sarpol-e Zahab, about 520 kilometres (320 miles) west of Tehran.

Earlier in November, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck western Iran, killing more than 600 and injuring more than 9,000. Sarpol-e Zahab suffered half of the temblor's casualties.

Shortly after November's quake, rescuers used backhoes and heavy equipment to dig through the debris of buildings to find corpses, with weeping women crying out to God as aid workers found new bodies.

Iran sits on major fault lines and is prone to near-daily earthquakes. In 2003, a 6.6 magnitude quake flattened the historic city of Bam, killing 26,000 people.