6.2-magnitude quake hits Jask port city in southern Iran

An earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale has struck the port city of Jask in the southern Iranian province of Hormuzgan.

According to the Iranian Seismological Center, which is affiliated to the University of Tehran’s Institute of Geophysics, the quake occurred at 06:38 a.m. local time (0208 GMT) at a depth of 15 kilometers.

The epicenter of the quake was 97 kilometers from Jask, the report added.

At least 11 people have been injured and five villages destroyed in the quake-stricken area, Head of the Rescue and Relief Organization of Iran’s Red Crescent Society (IRCS), Mahmoud Mozaffar, told IRNA.

So far, about 10 strong aftershocks have been detected in the area, the strongest measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale.

Rescue teams have been dispatched to the affected area.

Iran sits on several major fault lines and is prone to frequent quakes.

A 4.7-magnitude earthquake hit the port city of Bandar Charak in Hormozgan Province on April 28.

A major quake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale shook a sparsely-populated rural area between the cities of Saravan and Khash in the southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province at a depth of 95 kilometers on April 16. The quake was unprecedented in the past 50 years.

Another strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 on the Richter scale rocked the town of Kaki, some 90 kilometers southeast of Bushehr, on April 9, at a depth of 12 kilometers. At least 37 people were killed and more than 1,050 others were injured. The quake also destroyed 3,100 houses.