Tensions have rapidly increased between the arch-foes since May last year when US President Donald Trump withdrew from a landmark 2015 accord
Tehran: On Friday earthquake struck Iran less than 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the country’s only nuclear power plant, monitors said. There were no quick reports of any damage.
The US Geological Survey said the 5.1 magnitude earthquake struck 44 kilometers (27 miles) southeast of Borazjan city and at a depth of 38 kilometers.
According to the report, the epicenter is 45 kilometers east of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, on the southwest Gulf coast.
Iran’s Seismological Center said in a preliminary report on its website that the strength of the earthquake was 4.9 magnitude and that its depth was 10 kilometers.
The earthquake shook villages near Kalameh city, the semi-official news report said, adding there were no quick reports of any damage.
“Based on evaluations by the Red Crescent, and regional (authorities), we’re yet to hear of any damage,” it quoted the head of the province’s crisis center, Jahangir Dehghani said.
“We might have roads blocked in parts of the mountain due to the quake’s intensity,” Dehghani added.
The Bushehr plant produces 1,000 megawatts of power and was built by Russia after being delayed for years and officially handed over in September 2013.
Iran is seeking to reduce its reliance on oil and gas with 20 nuclear facilities planned over the coming years.
Its nuclear program is at the center of a dispute with the United States, which suspects Iran is trying to obtain an atomic bomb, something Iran denies.
Tensions have rapidly increased between the arch-foes since May last year when US President Donald Trump withdrew from a landmark 2015 accord.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, gave Iran relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear program.
Iran sits on top of major tectonic plates and sees repeated seismic activity.
In November 2017 a 7.3-magnitude tremor in the western province of Kermanshah killed 620 people.
In 2003, a 6.6-magnitude earthquake in southeast Iran decimated the ancient mud-brick city of Bam and killed around 31,000 people.
The deadliest earthquake of Iran was a 7.4-magnitude tremor in 1990 that killed 40,000 people in northern Iran, injured 300,000 and left half a million homeless.
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