Quake kills four, injures 120 in northeastern Iran

A 4.9 magnitude earthquake on Tuesday killed at least four people and injured 120 others in northeastern Iran, according to official media.

The earthquake shook the city of Kashmar (northeast) at 13:24 local time (09:54 GMT), killing four people and injuring 120 others, according to what state television quoted the local governor, Hojatollah Shariatmadari, as saying.

For its part, the American Seismological Institute estimated that the magnitude of the earthquake reached 4.9 degrees, explaining that it occurred at a depth of ten kilometers.

Shariatmadari added that the earthquake mainly caused damage to old buildings in urban and rural areas.

Iran is located at the meeting point of several tectonic plates and experiences high seismic activity.

In early 2023, a 5.9-magnitude earthquake killed three people and injured more than 800 others in a mountainous region in the northwest of the country near the border with Turkey.

At the end of 2003, a 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck the city of Bam in southeastern Iran, killing more than 31,000 people