Quake hits western Iran, about 75 injured

An earthquake hit an area in western Iran near the Iraqi border on Sunday, injuring 75 people, most of them lightly, the head of the country’s emergency medical services said.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) initially put the magnitude of the quake at 5.9 but revised this later to 5.5.

Pirhossein Koulivand said all but one of the 75 injured had been released after treatment following the earthquake in Gilan Gharb in Kermanshah province, according to the emergency services’ website.

In November, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake shook western Iran, injuring more than 700 people, with most suffering minor wounds.

Iran sits astride major fault lines and is prone to frequent tremors. In 2003, a 6.6 magnitude quake in southeastern Kerman province killed 31,000 people and flattened the historic city of Bam.