Magnitude 5.4 earthquake in Iran injures over 1,100 people: Official

By Haydar Sahin

TEHRAN, Iran (AA) – Over 1,100 people have been injured from a 5.4 magnitude earthquake that struck Iran's northwestern province of West Azerbaijan in the early hours of Wednesday, according to a health official.

Speaking to Iranian state television, Health Ministry spokesman Mojtaba Khaledi said 1,127 people were injured in the earthquake.

The powerful quake shook the city of Khoy, located 807 kilometers (501 miles) northwest of the capital Tehran.

According to the Iranian Seismological Center at the University of Tehran, the quake occurred at 3.51 a.m. local time (0021GMT) at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles) followed by more than 30 aftershocks with a magnitude of less than 4.

Many of those injured have been admitted to local hospitals in the province, said Khaledi.

Iran is located in a seismically active zone and has seen many catastrophic earthquakes in the past years.

The most devastating quake to hit the country in recent history came in 2013, when at least 34,000 people died in the city of Bam in southeastern Kerman province. The quake measured 6.7 on the Richter scale.

It came a week after an earthquake of magnitude 5.6 struck the same province, although no casualties or major damage was reported at the time.