Strong quake shakes southwest Iran

A 5.3-richer quake shook Saland, a city in southwestern Iranian province of Khuzestan, on Saturday, IRNA reported.

The seismographic center of Tehran University's Geophysics Center reported on Saturday that the quake hit the area at 17:08 hours local time.

The epicenter of the quake was located in an area 48.69 degrees in longitude and 32.54 degrees in latitude.

There are yet no reports on possible casualties or damage to properties by the quake.

Iran sits on several major faults and is prone to frequent earthquakes many of which have been devastating.

The worst quake in recent times hit Bam in southeastern 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 occurred in June 1990 and was measured 7.7 on the Richter scale. About 37,000 people were killed and more than 100,000 injured in the northwestern provinces of Gilan and Zanjan. It devastated 27 towns and about 1,870 villages.