Earthquake Rattles Remote Area in Iran

TEHRAN, Iran — A moderate earthquake and several aftershocks rattled a remote area in eastern Iran yesterday morning, cracking walls and forcing some to seek shelter in tents, state press reported. No injuries were immediately reported.

The earthquake hit the town of Arianshahr near Birjand some 800 miles southeast of the capital, Tehran. The official Islamic Republic News Agency said it had a magnitude of 5.1, while the U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake at 4.9.

Families kept their children from school out of fear, and "some people took refuge in tents after the quake caused cracks on the old walls in the epicenter," the report said.