Shallow 6.0 quake hits eastern Iran followed by 5.0 aftershock; no damage

The latest tremors come just over two weeks after a 7.3 quake killed more than 400 people in western Kermanshah province in Iraq

Two earthquakes hit eastern Iran in quick succession early on Friday, the first a fairly strong magnitude tremor measuring 6.0 on Richter scale struck at a shallow depth close to the populous city of Kerman, the US Geological Survey said.

It was followed up ten minutes later by a less powerful 5.0 aftershock in the same area, the survey said.

USGS's modelling predicted a low chance of widespread loss to life or property.

The latest tremors come just over two weeks after a 7.3 quake killed more than 400 people in western Kermanshah province, close to the border with neighbouring Iraq.
 
Iran sits on top of two major tectonic plates and sees frequent seismic activity.

In 1990, a 7.4-magnitude quake in northern Iran killed 40,000 people, injured 300,000 and left half a million homeless, reducing dozens of towns and nearly 2,000 villages to rubble.

Thirteen years later, a catastrophic quake flattened swathes of the ancient southeastern Iranian city of Bam, killing at least 31,000.

Iran has experienced at least two major quake disasters since -- one in 2005 that killed more than 600 people and another in 2012 that left some 300 dead.