Magnitude 5 earthquake strikes southern Iran

A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck Iran's southern province of Hormozgan on Wednesday, according to the country's seismological center. The center's website said the 5.4 magnitude quake struck at 11:10 a.m. local time, some 125 kilometers (77 miles) west of the port city of Bandar Abbas. It said the temblor struck at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles).

The U.S. Geological Survey put the quake's magnitude at 5.3. A magnitude 5 earthquake can cause considerable damage, but the semi-official ISNA news agency said that no casualties and damages had so far been reported after the quake.

The Tehran-based seismological center said that there were several after tremors measuring as high as 4.2. Iran is located on major seismic faults and experiences one earthquake per day on average. In 2003, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake flattened the historic city of Bam, killing 26,000 people.