15 injured in Iran quake

A 5.8 magnitude earthquake has struck the area between Iran's southern provinces of Fars and Hormuzdan.

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A 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck the area between Iran's southern provinces of Fars and Hormuzdan, injuring 15 people and damaging residential buildings, state media reported today. The state television's website, citing a local Red Crescent official, said 15 people were injured in the quake. The state news agency IRNA reported that the quake damaged 30 per cent of buildings in four villages near the town of Lanerg, located on the border of Fars province.

IRNA said the quake was also felt on the Gulf island of Kish but did not give further details. The US Geological Survey said earlier the moderate 5.8 quake jolted Iran's southern coast late Tuesday. The quake struck at 7.38pm GMT some 160 kilometres south of Jahrom and 975km southeast of the capital Tehran, at a depth of 10km, it said. Iran, including the capital Tehran, sits astride several major fault lines in the Earth's crust, and is prone to frequent quakes, many of which have been devastating.

The worst in recent times, of magnitude 6.3, hit the southern city of Bam in December 2003, killing 31,000 people - about a quarter of its population - and destroying the city's ancient mud-built citadel. * AFP