An earthquake shook Tehran late Tuesday night, according to the United States Geological Survey, raising fresh concerns in one of the world’s most earthquake-prone regions.
The USGS reported that the tremor measured 4.3 in magnitude and struck around 11:46 p.m. local time. Iranian state media, however, placed the magnitude slightly higher at 4.6.
According to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB, the quake hit near the Pardis area, east of Tehran, at a depth of roughly 10 kilometers.
There were no immediate reports of deaths, injuries, or major structural damage, though residents in several parts of the capital reportedly felt the shaking.
The tremor was also experienced in Karaj, a major suburb located about 40 kilometers west of Tehran.
Iran sits along the collision zone between the Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates, making the country highly vulnerable to seismic activity. The region experiences frequent earthquakes, many of them destructive because of shallow epicenters and aging infrastructure in densely populated areas.
The country has suffered several devastating quakes over the decades. In 1990, the Rudbar-Tarom earthquake, which measured 7.4, killed more than 40,000 people. Another major disaster struck in 2003 when a 6.6 magnitude quake destroyed much of Bam city, leaving over 26,000 dead.
Tuesday’s earthquake was relatively moderate by comparison, but it once again highlighted the ongoing seismic risks facing millions of people across Iran.
