Earthquake of magnitude 6.1 in Iran kills several people — official

At least five people were killed by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake in southern Iran, state media reported, with the area also hit by two later strong quakes of up to 6.3 magnitude.

"Five people have died in the earthquake ... and so far 12 are hospitalised," Mehrdad Hassanzadeh, head of emergency management in Hormozgan Province on Iran's Gulf coast, told state TV early on Saturday.

"Rescue work has been carried out and we are now providing tents as emergency housing."

United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake was at a depth of 10 km (6.21 miles) and pinpointed in the Bandar Lengeh region of southern Iran.

Tremors

The state news agency IRNA said a magnitude 6.3 earthquake and a magnitude 6.1 quake followed the 6.1 quake that flattened the village of Sayeh Khosh near Iran's Gulf coast. There were more than a dozen aftershocks.

The major earthquake hit Iran at about 02:30 am local time (2130GMT) and dozens more earthquakes hit the same region of Iran with magnitudes ranging between 4.3 to 6, according to USGS.

"All of the victims died in the first earthquake and no one was harmed in the next two severe quakes as people were already outside their homes," said Foad Moradzadeh, governor of Bandar Lengeh country, quoted by the state news agency IRNA.

Major geological fault lines crisscross Iran, which has suffered several devastating earthquakes in recent years. In 2003, a magnitude 6 .6 quake in Kerman province killed 31,000 people and flattened the ancient city of Bam.