Magnitude 6.1 quake strikes near southeastern Iranian city of Kerman

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 on the Richter scale has jolted southeastern Iran near the city of Kerman, the Iranian Seismological Center says.

The seismic activity on Friday hit at a shallow depth of 10 kilometers, in the city of Hejadk some 58 kilometers northeast of Kerman, followed by a magnitude 4.0-aftershock some 10 minutes later.

The quake struck at 06:00 a.m. local time (0230 GMT), with a provincial governor saying there was no report of casualties yet but as many as 30 homes had been destroyed.

“Assessment teams are surveying the earthquake-stricken areas and villages in Kerman,” IRNA quoted Mohammad-Reza Mir-Sadeqi as saying.