Strong earthquake strikes Turkey-Iran border

An earthquake with a magnitude of up to 5.9 struck the Turkey-Iran border region on Saturday, destroying houses in a provincial capital in Iran, Iranian media and the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) reported. "According to the preliminary observations of the Fars reporter, the amount of destruction of houses and buildings in the city of Khoy is relatively high," the semi-official news agency Fars reported.

An earthquake with a magnitude of up to 5.9 struck the Turkey-Iran border region on Saturday, destroying houses in a provincial capital in Iran, Iranian media and the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) reported.

"According to the preliminary observations of the Fars reporter, the amount of destruction of houses and buildings in the city of Khoy is relatively high," the semi-official news agency Fars reported. The quake had a magnitude of 5.6 and was at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), EMSC said. Iranian media said the earthquake had a magnitude of 5.9 and hit Iran's Western Azerbaijan province.

Iranian emergency officials said rescue teams were despatched to the area and hospitals were put on alert, state media said.

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