Casualties as strong earthquake strikes northwestern Iran

At least two people have been killed and 122 others injured after a 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck Iran's northwestern province of West Azerbaijan with shockwaves felt in many cities, emergency officials and local media said.

The quake on Saturday was reported at around 9.44 pm [local time] at a shallow depth of 7 kilometres, with its epicentre near the city of Khoy.

According to local officials and media reports, the high-intensity quake was felt in multiple cities, including the provincial capital and largest city Urmia, with multiple aftershocks.

Mojtaba Khaledi, the spokesperson of Iran's Emergency Organization, told state TV that preliminary reports suggest damage in Khoy as a result of the quake, adding that ambulances have been dispatched from nearby cities of Urmia and Tabriz.

"According to the preliminary observations of the Fars reporter, the amount of destruction of houses and buildings in the city of Khoy is relatively high," the semi-official news agency Fars reported.

The teams of the Red Crescent Society in the province, which borders Azerbaijan, have also been dispatched to the worst-hit areas to assess the damage, officials said.

Zabihullah Kazemi, governor of Khoy, was quoted as saying by the state news agency that 15 teams have been sent to the quake-hit areas to assess the extent of damage and provide relief to people.

According to the European-Mediterranean Seismological center, the quake was also felt in Türkiye, Iraq, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

READ MORE: Earthquake of magnitude 6.1 in Iran kills several people — official

Active zone

The province was jolted by a 5.4 magnitude earthquake earlier this month, which shook the city of Khoy and caused extensive damage to properties there.

In October, a 5.4 magnitude earthquake in the city of Khoy injured nearly 400 people and partially or fully damaged hundreds of urban and rural residential properties.

Iran is located in a seismically active zone and has seen many catastrophic earthquakes in the past years.

The most devastating earthquake to hit the country in recent history came in 2013 when at least 34,000 people died in the city of Bam in southeastern Kerman province.

The quake measured 6.7 on the Richter scale.

In recent months, a string of high and medium-intensity earthquakes have hit provinces in southern and northern Iran.