At least 70 people were injured after a 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck northwestern Iran near Turkey on Wednesday.
The earthquake occurred near the city of Khoy in the province of West Azerbaijan at 1:38 p.m. (12:08 p.m. Bulgarian time), at a depth of 10 km, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported.
The Seismological Center of Tehran University informed that the earthquake had a magnitude of 5.4 and a depth of 12 km.
At least 70 people were injured trying to flee to safety, and more than 300 houses in 15 villages were damaged, state television said, citing officials from the area.
Iran is on the borders of several major tectonic plates and experiences frequent seismic activity.
In February 2020, a magnitude 5.7 earthquake that shook the western village of Habash-e Olya killed at least nine people across the border in neighboring Turkey.
Iran’s deadliest recorded earthquake was a magnitude 7.4 quake in 1990 that killed 40,000 people in the north of the country, injured 300,000 and left half a million homeless.
