Iran news agency reports 5.4 quake in southern mountains

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s official IRNA news agency is reporting a magnitude 5.4 earthquake has jolted a remote mountainous area in southern Iran.

The Thursday report says the quake happened at 6 a.m. in a sparsely populated area near the small town of Ziaratali about 1,330 kilometres (700 miles) southeast of the capital Tehran.

A magnitude 5 quake has the potential to cause considerable damage, but there were no immediate reports of damage or fatalities.

Rescue teams were sent to the area, which has a population of some 5,000, mostly farmers. Iran experiences frequent earthquakes as it sits on major fault lines. In 2003, a magnitude 6.6 quake flattened the historic southeastern city of Bam, killing 26,000 people.