TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck a southern Iranian province Saturday, killing at least one person and injuring more than 30 others, Iranian media reported.
The quake 22 kilometers (14 miles) northeast of Kish Island in Hormozgan province happened at 8:07 a.m. local time and struck at a depth of 22 kilometers (14 miles), according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
IRNA, quoting the head of the Kish Island hospital, Mostafa Nadealinejad, said four people suffered fractures from falling. One person suffered a concussion, a fracture and bleeding due to falling from the third floor of a building.
“Despite performing surgeries in the operating room, the person died due to the severity of his injuries,” Nadealinejad said.
Nadealinejad said most of the 31 people who were hurt suffered minor injuries while trying to flee the area.
Kish Island, located in the Persian Gulf, is 1,025 kilometers (some 640 miles) south of Tehran. It has been shaken by weaker temblors several times over the last 10 days, officials said.
Iran lies on major seismic faults and experiences one earthquake a day on average. In 2003, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake flattened the historic city of Bam, killing 26,000 people. A magnitude 7 earthquake that struck western Iran in 2017 killed more than 600 people and injured more than 9,000.
