AFP: An earthquake rocked northwestern Iran on Sunday, state television reported, adding there was no early information on casualties or damage. TEHRAN (AFP) An earthquake rocked northwestern Iran on Sunday, state television reported, adding there was no early information on casualties or damage.
The epicentre of the quake, measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale, was the town of Hashtjin, near Khalkhal in Ardebil province, it said.
Iran sits astride several major faults in the earth’s crust, and is prone to frequent earthquakes, many of them devastating.
The worst quake in recent times hit Bam in the southeastern Kerman province in December 2003, killing 31,000 people, about a quarter of the city’s population, and destroying the city’s ancient mud-built citadel.
Tehran alone sits on two major faultlines and the 7.5 million residents of the city live in fear of a major quake.
