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(CNN) - At least five people were killed and another 120 were injured after an earthquake of magnitude 5.8 shook northwest Iran, Iranian state television Press TV reported.
Friday's earthquake struck 57 kilometers from the city of Hashtrud in the province of East Azerbaijan, at 2:17 am local time (5:47 pm ET), according to the United States Geological Survey. The earthquake had a depth of 10 kilometers.
Initial reports indicate that three small villages in the area were destroyed by the earthquake, the semi-official FARS news agency reported. Emergency and evaluation teams are operating and Red Crescent teams have been sent to the area, the news agency added.
Iran is in a major fault between the plates of Arabia and Eurasia and has experienced many earthquakes in the past.
Last year, an earthquake that occurred near the Iran-Iraq border in November killed at least 361 people.
More than 400 people died and thousands were injured when a powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck near the Iran-Iraq border in November 2017.
The deadliest of this century occurred in 2003 when an earthquake of magnitude 6.6 struck the city of Bam, in the southeast of the country, killing some 26,000 people.
Iran