New earthquake hits Iran
By Sara Rajabova
A new earthquake measuring 5.2 points on the Richter scale jolted East Azerbaijan Province near Tabriz on Thursday, Iranian national television reported.
The earthquake took place at 15:09 local time.
Three people were injured as a result of the disaster.
Earlier Fars news agency quoted head of East Azerbaijan Province's Crisis Management Headquarters Khalil Sa'ee as saying that no one died or was injured as a result of the earthquake.
According to the report, at the same time, East Azerbaijan Province Governor Alireza Beighi said that rescue groups have been sent to the scene. He also earlier said that the earthquake left no one dead or injured.
The earthquake was felt in Tasuj, as well as in Tabriz, Marand, Azarshahr and Bonab.
This time, the earthquake was also felt in Nakhchivan and Ordubad regions of Azerbaijan.
Two earthquakes occurred in the last two weeks in Iran's southern regions, Bushehr and Sistan-Baluchestan provinces, with about 40 people reported dead.
On Tuesday, a 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit a sparsely populated rural area between the Iranian provincial cities of Saravan and Khash at a depth of 95 kilometers.
The earthquake was felt across large parts of Iran's southeastern neighbor, Pakistan, including in Islamabad and the country's largest city, Karachi, where tremors prompted many to rush out of buildings in fear. The tremor was powerful enough to be felt as far away as New Delhi, India, where it rocked tall buildings.
It was also felt in the Persian Gulf's littoral states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Earlier, on April 10, another earthquake, measuring 6.1 points on the Richter scale, occurred in Bushehr province. It was reported that this was one of the most powerful earthquakes to hit Iran over the past 40 years.