Iran sends rescuers after two earthquakes shake southern province

Two strong earthquakes hit Iran's southern Hormozgan province on the Gulf, prompting authorities to send search and rescue teams to the affected areas.

The quakes were of magnitude 5.7 and 5.8, Iranian state media reported.

“We have not received any report of serious damage yet. But large areas have been struck by these earthquakes and the evaluation work continues,” Mokhtar Salahshour, head of Hormozgan Province's Red Crescent, told state TV.

The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre said one earthquake had a magnitude of 5.5.

The quake struck southern Iran on Saturday, at a depth of 10 kilometres and 103km south-west of Bandar Abbas city, the EMSC said.

The UAE National Centre of Meteorology said the tremor was felt in several areas of the UAE but there was no damage.

Since May 31, a series of earthquakes have hit the same area of Iran and also been felt in the UAE.

One person was killed in November last year when Hormozgan province was struck by twin 6.4 and 6.3 magnitude quakes.

In 2003, a 6.6-magnitude earthquake destroyed the city of Bam, killing 26,000 people. In 2017, a magnitude 7 quake hit the border region between Iran and Iraq, killing 600 people and injuring more than 9,000.

The deadliest 7.4-magnitude quake hit northern Iran in 1990, killing 40,000 people and injuring 300,000. At least 500,000 were left homeless.

Since 1900, at least 126,000 people have died in Iran as a result of quakes.