UAE leaders send condolences after Iran earthquake

The quake hit the village of Sayeh Khosh, killing five people and injuring 44

Damage in the village of Sayeh Khosh village in Iran's southern Hormozgan province. AFP
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President Sheikh Mohamed has sent condolences and sympathy to Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi after an earthquake killed five people.

Vice President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid sent a similar cable of condolences.

The earthquake hit the village of Sayeh Khosh in southern Iran with a magnitude of 6.1, killing five people and injuring 44.

The epicentre was 103 kilometres south-west of the port city of Bandar Abbas, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre said.

At least eight subsequent tremors hit southern Iran, the European seismologists said.

Iran's state television reported that rescue teams were sent to a village near the epicentre, Sayeh Khosh, which is home to about 300 people.

Most of the damage occurred in the village, the IRNA news agency was told by Hormozgan governor Mahdi Dosti.

The province lies on Iran's Gulf coast about 1,000 kilometres south of the capital, Tehran.

Iran sits on two major tectonic plates and is prone to frequent and severe seismic activity.

Since May 31, a series of earthquakes have struck the same area of Iran and also been felt in the UAE.

One person was killed in November last year when Hormozgan province was hit by twin 6.4 and 6.3 magnitude quakes.

In 2003, a 6.6-magnitude earthquake destroyed the city of Bam, killing 26,000 people. In 2017, a magnitude 7 earthquake hit the border region between Iran and Iraq, killing 600 people and injuring more than 9,000.

The deadliest 7.4-magnitude quake hit northern Iran in 1990, killing 40,000 people and injuring 300,000. At least 500,000 were left homeless.

Since 1900, at least 126,000 people have died in Iran as a result of quakes.

Updated: June 07, 2023, 4:26 PM