TEHRAN – A magnitude 5.9 earthquake jolted southwestern Bushehr province on Sunday, according to the Iranian Seismological Center.

The earthquake struck at 11:11 a.m. local time at a depth of 10 kilometers near the border with Fars province.

Five were injured but no fatalities have so far been reported in the aftermath of the quake.

Twelve other quakes measuring 3-4.5 on the Richter scale shook the area within 4 hours.

Some 6 villages in Genaveh city have suffered 20 to 30 percent damage due to the earthquake.

The Iranian plateau is located in a very seismically active region of the world and is known not only for its major catastrophic earthquakes but also for the disasters relating to natural hazards, especially earthquakes.

About 2 percent of the earthquakes of the world occur in Iran but more than 6 percent of the victims of the world earthquakes during the 20th century are reported from Iranian earthquakes. This shows the high level of vulnerability in Iran, according to Mehdi Zare, a professor of engineering seismology.

Most recently, an earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale shook western Kordestan province on April 7. And a magnitude 5.1 earthquake occurred in northeastern Golestan province in September 2020, which left 34 injured.
FB/MG