3.8 Richter quake jolts southern Iran

An earthquake measuring 3.8 degrees on the Richter scale jolted the city of Lamerd in southern province of Fars on Sunday morning, IRNA reported.

According to the Seismological Center of the Geophysics Institute of University of Tehran, the quake was registered at 00:00 hours local time.

The epicenter of the quake was registered at 52.8 degrees in longitude and 27.59 degrees in latitude. There was no report of likely casualties or damage to properties.

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

The worst in recent times hit Bam in 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 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 northwestern provinces of Gilan and Zanjan. It caused major damages to 27 towns and about 1,870 villages.

In August 2012, two quakes in Northwestern Iran also claimed the lives of 306 people and injured more than 4500 others.