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At least five killed in Iran earthquake

Staff WritersReuters
An earthquake in the village of Sayeh Khosh in Iran's south has killed at least five people.
Camera IconAn earthquake in the village of Sayeh Khosh in Iran's south has killed at least five people. Credit: AP

At least five people have been killed and 49 injured by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake in southern Iran, with the area hit soon after by two strong quakes of up to 6.3 magnitude.

Some 24 tremors, two with magnitudes of 6.3 and 6.1, followed the 2am local time quake that flattened the village of Sayeh Khosh near Iran's Gulf coast in Hormozgan province.

The village lies about 1000km south of the capital Tehran.

The most recent tremor occurred about six hours later, officials told state TV.

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"All of the victims died in the first earthquake and no one was harmed in the next two severe quakes as people were already outside their homes," Foad Moradzadeh, governor of Bandar Lengeh country, told the state news agency IRNA.

Emergency services spokesman Mojtaba Khaledi told state TV half of the 49 people injured had been discharged from hospital.

Officials said search and rescue operations had ended.

Gulf shipping and flights had not been affected by the quakes, spokesman Saeid Pourzadeh said.

State TV said 150 quakes and tremors had struck western Hormozgan over the past month.

Major geological fault lines crisscross Iran, which has suffered several devastating earthquakes in recent years.

In 2003, a magnitude 6.6 quake in Kerman province killed 31,000 people and flattened the ancient city of Bam.

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