Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 22
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
An earthquake measuring 5.4 points on the Richter scale hit the Iran-Iraq border region near the city of Qasr-e Shirinin the Iranian western province of Kermanshah, ISNA news agency reported on Nov. 22.
The earthquake occurred today at 10:21 local time, a report from the Seismological Centre of the Geophysics Institute of Tehran University said.
According to the report, the centre of earthquake was 17 kilometres far from Qasr-e Shirinin, near the city of Khanaqin in Iraq.
The epicentre was at a depth of 10 kilometres.
Other tremors have also jolted the region after the main one. The biggest measuring 3.4 on Richter Scale, occurred 11 minutes after the main earthquake.
No reports have been made on any victims.
Iran sits astride several major faults in the earth's crust and is prone to frequent earthquakes, many of which have been devastating.
The worst in recent times hit Bam in south eastern Kerman province in December 2003, killing 31,000 people, about a quarter of its population and destroying the city's ancient mud-built citadel.
The deadliest quake in the country was in June 1990 and measured 7.7 on the Richter scale. About 37,000 people were killed and more than 100,000 injured in the North-western provinces of Gilan and Zanjan. It devastated 27 towns and 1870 villages.