Mild Earthquake Hits Northern Iran, No Casualties Reported
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A 4.9-magnitude earthquake jolted a town in Iran's northern province of Semnan, a local official said Sunday.
The epicenter of the quake was 22 km north of Majan city in the province, Ahmad Taheri, the head of the crisis management office of Semnan Province told Tasnim.
He also emphasized that fortunately initial reports said the incident have had no casualties.
Iran is one of the most seismically active countries in the world, being crossed by several major fault lines that cover at least 90% of the country. As a result, earthquakes in Iran occur often and are destructive.
The deadliest quake in Iran's modern history happened in June 1990. It destroyed the northern cities of Rudbar, Manjil and Lushan, along with hundreds of villages, killing an estimated 37,000 people.
Bam in the country’s southeastern province of Kerman witnessed a strong quake in December 2003 which killed 31,000 people.
