Major earthquake shakes Iranian town

PanARMENIAN.Net - Iran says a magnitude 5.7 earthquake hit a town in the country's southwest on July 8, damaging several buildings, Express reports.

The report by the official IRNA news agency said that the quake hit near the town of Masjid Soleiman in Khuzestan Province, some 450 kilometers southwest of Tehran.

It said at least four people have been reported injured.

Witnesses told Western news agencies that the temblor damaged buildings in the center of town and some older buildings collapsed completely.

State TV said rescue teams were deployed to surrounding rural areas, too.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake was centered 28 kilometers southeast of the town and at a depth of 10 kilometers. Several aftershocks were reported.

In 2003, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake flattened the historic city of Bam in southern Iran, killing 26,000 people.

Iran, located on major seismic faults, is hit by one earthquake per day on average.