A 5,1-magnitude earthquake jolted Iran’s oil-rich south-west on Tuesday and caused minor damage to buildings, the official Irna news agency said.
The quake occurred at 5.20am GMT near the town of Ghaleh-tal in an eastern part of Khuzestan province and the tremor was felt in the provincial capital, Ahvaz, and elsewhere, Irna reported.
Khuzestan is the heartland of the oil industry in the world’s number-four producer, but most oil fields lie west and south from the quake’s reported epicentre.
”Rescue workers have been sent to some of the villages and towns hit by the earthquake and fortunately they have only reported damages such as cracks in the walls of some houses,” a local official, Yadollah Janaki, told Irna.
About 20 children were hurt as they tried to run out of a school building during the earthquake. State radio said the children were injured in a stampede when they rushed out of their classrooms in a local school in Qalehtal. It also said some buildings in the district were slightly damaged.
Natural-disaster experts say oil-producing Iran is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world because it is criss-crossed by several major fault lines. It experiences at least one slight earthquake every day on average.
In March 2006, three earthquakes and nine aftershocks hit western Iran, in quick succession, killing at least 70 people and injuring about 1 200. — Reuters, Sapa-AP