TEHRAN (AFP) — At least seven people were killed and 47 injured in the powerful earthquake that struck southern Iran on Wednesday, the Mehr news agency reported on Thursday.
"Based on the latest information, seven people were killed and 47 have been injured," the governor of the province of Hormozgan, Abdolali Saheb Mohammadi, was quoted as saying.
The US Geological Survey said the 6.1-magnitude quake jolted an area southwest of the port of Bandar Abbas, the capital of Hormozgan.
The quake occurred on Qeshm island, a popular tourist and free-trade island which lies just off the coast from Bandar Abbas in the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic Gulf oil route.
"The earthquake yesterday afternoon hit the same area as another three years ago and with the same magnitude, but because of reconstruction since, there was no serious damage now," Saheb Mohammadi said.
He also said that electricity, water and telecommunication services had been restored on the island.
Iran sits astride several major faults in the earth's crust, and is prone to frequent earthquakes, many of which have been devastating.
The worst in recent times hit the southern city of Bam in December 2003, killing 31,000 people -- about a quarter of its population -- and destroying the city's ancient mud-built citadel.
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