A 4.9 magnitude earthquake has struck 30 miles from Iran's sole nuclear power plant - just two weeks after a similar quake rocked the same region.

The earthquake hit about six miles southeast of Borazjan in the country's south-west in the early hours of Wednesday morning, with a depth of six miles, the United States Geological Survey reported.

The incident is the latest in a dramatic series of events in the country after retaliatory missile strikes on Iraqi bases housing American troops, and a Ukraine-bound passenger plane crashing over Tehran all within the space of a few hours.

The location of the earthquake that struck on Wednesday is about 40 miles from the nuclear power plant in Bushehr (above), which is the site of Iran's controversial nuclear program

A 4.9 magnitude earthquake has struck 30 miles from Iran 's sole nuclear power plant - just two weeks after a similar quake rocked the same region

The location of the quake was in the same region as Bushehr, the site of Iran's controversial nuclear program.

The quake came on the same day Ukrainian International Airlines flight PS752 - Boeing 737 - crashed just three minutes after takeoff from Imam Khomeini International Airport.

Reports in Ukraine said there were 73 Canadians and 71 Iranians on board as well as 15 Ukrainians, three Britons and several other Europeans.

Iran also attacked U.S. troops with ballistic missiles at two military bases in Iraq housing American troops in a revenge attack for the U.S. drone strike that killed their top Iranian general.

It is the second earthquake to hit the region in the last two weeks. A 5.1 magnitude earthquake hit the same area near the power plant on December 26.

The last quake to hit Iran before that came in November in the north-west of the country.

The earthquake hit about six miles southeast of Borazjan in the country's south-west in the early hours of Wednesday morning, with a depth of six miles, the United States Geological Survey reported

The 4.9 magnitude earthquake struck about six miles southeast of Borazjan in the country's south-west early on Wednesday

Five people were killed and 300 were injured when the November 7 quake struck. It was believed that many of the injuries occurred in the panicked aftermath of the quake as people fled their homes.

Iran is on major seismic faults and experiences one earthquake a day on average. In 2003, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake flattened the historic city of Bam, killing 26,000 people.

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck western Iran in 2017 killed more than 600 people and injured more than 9,000.

Today, the Boeing 737 jet came down just three minutes after take-off from Imam Khomeini International Airport, sparking fresh alarm in the region just hours after Iran launched a missile attack on US bases in Iraq.

People stand near the wreckage after a Ukrainian plane carrying 176 passengers crashed near Imam Khomeini airport

Citing sources, Ukrainian outlet Obozrevatel reported there were 73 Canadians, 71 Iranians, 15 Ukrainians, three Britons and several other Europeans on board the Ukrainian International Airlines flight to Kyiv.

There were conflicting reports on the numbers and it is believed that a number of the passengers may have had dual citizenship.

There were no survivors, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

It sparked speculation that the jet could have been shot down accidentally by nervous Iranian air defence soldiers, hours after Iran fired 22 ballistic missiles at US bases in retaliation for the killing of general Qassem Soleimani.

Just hours before the crash, the US Federal Aviation Administration had banned US airlines from flying over Iran, Iraq and the waters of the Persian Gulf due to the Middle East crisis.

However, the Ukrainian embassy in Tehran reported that the crash had been caused by an engine failure rather than terrorism.

Iranian officials said the pilot had lost control of the Boeing jet after a fire struck one of the plane's engines, but said the crew had not reported an emergency and did not say what caused the fire.