Quakes rattle southern Iran

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Several earthquakes, the largest with a magnitude of 5.8, hit a rural region of southern Iran on Wednesday, the seismological centre said.

State media said there was no word of any fatalities but that 15 people in four villages were hurt.

Iran's seismological centre reported a series of quakes measuring 5.8, 5.2, 4.1 and 3.9 in a sparsely populated southern region near the Gulf coast.

"Bandar Abbas and its refinery were not affected by the earthquake," a local official told Reuters.

The southern port of Bandar Abbas in the Hormuzgan province is home to one of Iran's main refineries.

State media said the quake and at least 11 aftershocks struck the Hormuzgan and the Fars provinces, causing minor damage to mud-brick houses in some areas.

The US Geological Survey said the first and largest quake was very shallow, with a verified epicentre only 10km deep. It was located 85km southwest of Lar, close to the southern coast.

Earthquakes are common in Iran. In 2003, about 30,000 people were killed in a quake that devastated the southeastern city of Bam.

- Reuters