At least three killed as magnitude 6.0 quake hits Southern Iran

Tehran: An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 on the Ritcher scale jolted Southern Iran on Saturday, killing at least three people.

At least three people were killed as a result of the earthquake and several injuries were also reported, according to the Times of Israel citing Iranian state media. The quake hit 100 kilometres (60 miles) southwest of the port city of Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan province, the USGS said.

It struck just a minute after a 5.7 magnitude hit the Ritcher scale. In its preliminary assessment, the USGS said that there was a low likelihood of damage but that some casualties were possible. The impact of the quake should be relatively localized, it said.

In last year's earthquake, one person was killed when Hormozgan province was hit by twin 6.4 and 6.3 magnitude quakes.

Situated on the edge of several tectonic plates and crossing various fault lines, Iran is an area of strong seismic activity.

Iran's deadliest quake was a 7.4-magnitude tremor that struck in 1990, killing 40,000 people in the north of the country.