Three people have been killed in a 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck near Nuclear power station Bushehr in southern Iran.
The Iranian Seismological Centre at the University of Tehran said the epicentre was Kaki, 60 miles south of Bushehr – home to the country’s only nuclear power station.
The Russian company that built the nuclear power station said the quake had been felt there but that operations at the plant were not affected.
“The earthquake in no way affected the normal situation at the reactor. Personnel continue to work in the normal regime and radiation levels are fully within the norm,” Russian state news agency RIA quoted an official at Atomstroyexport as saying.
The quake was felt in Dubai, Qatar and Bahrain and five aftershocks struck within an hour.
he depth of the quake was 10 km (6.2miles). It was followed by several aftershocks.
“We could clearly feel the earthquake,” a local resident told Reuters. “The windows and chandeliers all shook.”
The Bushehr plant remains unaffected, according to an official from Atomstroyexport – the Russian company which built the station.
“The earthquake in no way affected the normal situation at the reactor, personnel continue to work in the normal regime and radiation levels are fully within the norm,” he told .
People on social media reported feeling the quake in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. There were no immediate reports of damages.
Gulf Arab countries and Western experts have voiced concerns about the Bushehr plant, which is built in a heily seismic area. Iran has repeatedly denied allegations that it could be unsafe.
Bushehr, which is home to around 160,000 people, is located on Iran’s southwestern coastal region. The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said in December another plant is slated for construction next to the Bushehr plant.
Iran extends across several major faults in the earth’s crust, and is prone to frequent earthquakes. In August 2012, two quakes in Northwestern Iran claimed the lives of 306 people and injured more than 4,500 others.
There were no further details on casualties or the extent of damage.
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