Earthquake hits southwest Iran

An earthquake measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale jolted district of Ghaleh Khajou, some 46 kilometer away from Masjed Soleyman city in Iran’s south eastern province of Khuzestan on July 8.

The tremor occurred at 06:18 local time (GMT +4:30 hours), according to a report from the seismography center affiliated with Tehran University Geophysics Institute.

The earthquake’s epicenter was at 32.349 degrees latitude and 49.376 degrees longitude at a depth of 10 kilometers underground, the country’s Fars news agency reported.

There is no immediate report on possible casualties or damage.

Iran sits astride several major faults in the earth's crust and is prone to frequent earthquakes, many of which have been devastating.

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. Nearly 27 towns and 1,870 villages were devastated.

/By Trend/