TEHRAN, Iran – A magnitude 5.9 earthquake shook southwestern Iran along the Persian Gulf on Sunday, followed by at least three aftershocks of moderate resistance, state television reported.
At least five people were injured, Iran’s IRNA news agency reported.
State television distributed images on the mobile phone with collapsed walls and broken houses in the area of the port city of Bandar Genaveh, the epicenter of the quake.
Get the daily edition of the Times of Israel by email and never miss our top stories Sign up for free
The video filmed by a spectator at a construction site near Bandar Genaveh appeared to show landslides at the foot of nearby. Both state television and the semi-official Tasnim news agency rebroadcast the footage.
The images show damaged houses in a village near Bandar Genaveh in the south #Iran after a magnitude 5.9 earthquake. Rescue teams were sent to the area. No reports of casualties or damage yet. Replicas were reported to Bandar Genaveh. pic.twitter.com/dZtKOINOYm
– Habib Abdolhossein (@HAbdolhossein) April 18, 2021
Three magnitude 4 aftershocks followed the initial quake, the report said.
The US geological study called the quake a magnitude 5.8 earthquake. It is said that its depth was 10 kilometers (6.2 miles).
A magnitude 5 earthquake can cause considerable damage. Shallow earthquakes, such as those on Sunday, can lead to more damage.
The quake was about 100 kilometers from Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant. There was no immediate report on the plant, although the facility was built to withstand earthquakes up to magnitude 8.
Iran faces major seismic defects and has an average earthquake per day. In 2003, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake shook the historic city of Bam, killing 26,000 people.
A magnitude 7 earthquake that struck western Iran in 2017 killed more than 600 people and injured more than 9,000.
