The earthquake struck the southern province of Bushehr, where a nuclear power plant is located, but there were no immediate reports of significant damage.
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck the province of Bushehr in southern Iran, where a nuclear power plant is located, but there were no immediate reports of extensive damage.
The epicenter of Sunday’s earthquake was the town of Rig.
Hospitals in neighboring towns and provinces have been put on alert with rescue teams and 50 ambulances dispatched to the area, a regional official said on state television.
Electricity, landlines and internet in the regional town of Gonaveh have been cut “and people are taking to the streets for fear of earthquakes,” the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
An Iranian government official told Reuters news agency that there had been no reports of damage to the Bushehr nuclear complex, located on the Iranian Gulf coast.
The earthquake was centered 100 km (60 miles) from the plant and was relatively shallow – only 10 km (6 miles) deep, according to Iranian media which also reported nine aftershocks and released images showing walls of collapsed mud bricks in some villages.
Two people were injured in Gonaveh and were taken to hospital, said Bushehr University of Medical Sciences director Saeed Kashmiri, according to state media.
Crisscrossed with major faults, Iran is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world.
In 2003, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake in Kerman province killed 31,000 people and razed the ancient city of Bam.
