Strong earthquake in Iran

Strong earthquake in Iran

Dastyar, speaking by phone from Bandar Abbas, 1,500 kilometers south of the capital Tehran and 22 kilometers northeast of Qeshm Island, added that rescue teams were deployed in remote areas where damage was expected. The quake occurred at 00:33 a.m. local time (2103 GMT) and shook Qeshm Island in the Straits of Hormuz, the Tehran Seismological Center said.

Electrical and telephone lines were out in Bandar Abbas, people there said.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the quake reached a 5.6 magnitude.

Qeshm Island was hit by a magnitude 5.9 quake in November 2005 that killed 10 people and injured 70, the AP reports.

Iran is located on seismic fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. It experiences at least one slight earthquake everyday on average, the AP reports.