A magnitude 5.9 earthquake has hit western Iran, injuring about 150 people, hours after two quakes struck Hormozgan Province in the south, Iranian media reported on July 22.

Pirhossein Kolivand, the head of Iran’s emergencies and natural disasters agency, told state television that at least 146 people were injured in the larger quake in western Iran near the border with Iraq in Kermanshah Province.

He added that 21 of the injured were taken to hospitals for treatment but did not say if there were any deaths.



The governor of Karmanshah, Houshang Bazvand, told the semiofficial Tasnim news agency that some houses in the area were damaged and landslides closed some local roads.

The two earlier earthquakes, with magnitudes of 4.7 and 5.7, damaged buildings in a few villages in Hormozgan without causing major casualties, Iranian media reported.

The United States Geological Survey measured the quake at magnitude 5.4.

Reports say the temblor rocked the town of Ruydar, in Hormozgan Province, early on July 22.

The town has about 10,000 residents and is located some 940 kilometers south of the Iranian capital.

Iran is prone to regular earthquakes as it sits on major fault lines.

In November, a 7.3 magnitude earthquake hit villages and towns in Kermanshah, killing at least 620 people and injuring thousands of others.

Based on reporting by Reuters, IRNA, and AP