IRNA - A 4.9-magnitute earthquake which hit Sharabian district in the East Azarbaijan Province, northwestern Iran, on the wee hours of Monday, injured eight people, a local official told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).


Managing Director of the provincial crisis management office Khalil Saie added that Medical and rescue teams are present in the quake-stricken areas.

He said that the tremor also damaged many houses in the area.

According to the seismological center of the Geophysics Institute of Tehran University, the tremor occurred at 3:44 hours local time (23:14 GMT Sunday night) in an area located at 47.08 degrees longitude and 37.87 degrees latitude some 100 km from the provincial capital city of Tabriz.

Iran sits astride several major faults in the earth's crust, and is prone to frequent earthquakes, many of which have been devastating.