New tremors felt in Iran

A 5-magnitude aftershock has rattled the quake-hit area in Iran's northwestern province of East Azerbaijan, days after twin tremors killed 306 people and injured over 3,000 there.

Earlier an earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale struck the northwestern province on Tuesday.

On Saturday, a 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocked the city of Ahar, near the provincial capital of Tabriz, at 15:53 local time (1123 GMT). The quake struck 60 kilometers northeast of Tabriz at a depth of 9.9 kilometers.

Another quake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale jolted Varzaqan and Haris districts, which are located near Ahar, 11 minutes later at a similar depth. The epicenter of the quake was 49 kilometers northeast of Tabriz.

Twelve villages in Varzaqan were leveled by the earthquake and about 60 others were partially destroyed. Thousands of people were forced to remain outdoors as at least 20 aftershocks rocked the area.


/PressTV/