Earthquake measuring 5.7 magnitude on Richter scale strikes southwest Iran

An earthquake measuring 5.7-magnitude on Richter scale on Monday struck southwest Iran near the border with Iraq on Monday, the country's national seismological centre reported. According to reports, the quake, whose epicentre was in the Masjed Soleiman area of Khuzestan province, hit at 11:30 am (0700 GMT) at a depth of 17 kilometres. However, there are no reports of casualties or damage to properties till the time. The teams are still assessing the situation all over the country, state TV reported.

In the last few days, there has been an increase in seismic activity with at least 4 quakes reported from different parts of the world. The quakes reported from California were magnitude 7.1 or higher. 

While a 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit Southern California near the Searles Valley in San Bernardino County on Thursday, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake was again reported from the western US state. 

READ | Earthquake: 31 injured after 5.4 magnitude quake strikes Southwest China

People in Uttarkashi region in Uttarakhand witnessed a low-intensity earthquake around 9 pm on Sunday. Same day, a strong magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck off Indonesia, triggering a tsunami warning all over the country. The shallow quake struck at a depth of 24 kilometres and was centred in the Molucca Sea between north Sulawesi and north Maluku.

Meanwhile, Caltech seismologist Lucy Jones has recently warned that there is "about a one-in-20 chance that South California will be having an even bigger earthquake within the next few days.