Magnitude 5.9 earthquake in Iran kills three, injures hundreds

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A 5.9 magnitude earthquake in Iran’s northwestern city of Khoy on late Saturday killed three people and injured over 800, state media reported.

An earthquake struck the city of Khoy in West Azerbaijan province at 9:44 pm on Saturday night, IRNA said, adding that the quake caused chaos in many areas of the province “especially the city of Urmia.” 

“The earthquake has left 816 injured and three dead,” state media cited West Azerbaijan governor Mohammed Sadegh Motamadian as saying.  

The governor added that 70 villages on the outskirts of Khoy were damaged by the quake. 

Iran’s Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi traveled to Khoy after the earthquake to observe the situation and provide assistance for the victims, IRNA said, adding that camps were set up to accommodate the displaced and piles of relief were distributed. 

Iran regularly experiences earthquakes and seismic activity as it sits atop several major tectonic plates. 

At least one person was killed when a set of twin quakes hit Iran’s Hormozgan province in November 2021.

Iran’s deadliest-ever earthquake was a 7.4-magnitude tremor that struck the country in 1990, killing 40,000 people in its north and leaving around half a million homeless.