Moderate earthquake hits central Iran

TEHRAN, July 4 (UPI) -- A moderate earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale shook a desert area of central Iran Wednesday, the state IRNA news agency reported.

Geologists said the epicenter was near the sparsely populated Bahabad, about 400 miles southeast of Tehran.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, although earthquakes of that magnitude are capable of bringing down large buildings, the report said.

Iran sits on one of the world's most active seismic fault lines, and experiences at least one slight earthquake a day on average. In recent years, the worst was when a major 6.3 quake struck the southeastern province of Kerman Dec. 26, 2003 -- killing 43,000 people and leveling almost all of the city of Bam.