5.9-magnitude quake kills 5 in northwestern Iran

At least five people lost their lives and 120 sustained injuries after a deadly earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale struck northwestern Iran on early Friday, the state media said.

Citing details by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Al Jazeera reported that the quake struck around 60 km (35 miles) from the town of Hastrud, in East Azerbaijan Province, shortly before 2:30 a.m. (local time) on Friday.

The USGS issued an alert warning that "significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread".

Images and videos posted online showed a collapsed structure in Mianeh, also in East Azerbaijan Province near the epicentre of the quake.

Residents were also seen camping outside their homes or in their cars.

Iran sits on a major fault line between the Arabian and Eurasian plates and has experienced many earthquakes in the past.

Last year, a quake that struck near the Iran-Iraq border in November killed at least 361 people.

More than 400 people were killed and thousands injured when a powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck near the Iran-Iraq border in November 2017.

The deadliest this century occurred in 2003 when a magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck the southeastern city of Bam, killing some 26,000 people.