At least three people were killed in a 6.3-magnitude earthquake near Bushehr in southern Iran, State television reported.
The US Geological Survey said the quake hit at 4.22 p.m. (11.52 GMT), at a depth of 10 km. Its epicentre was 89 km south-east of Bushehr, where the country’s first nuclear power plant is located.
Iran’s Press TV reported that the quake struck the town of Kaki, near Bushehr, where a 1,000 MW reactor was inaugurated by Iranian and Russian officials in 2011.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a new report in February that Iran had shut down the Bushehr plant for the second time since October.
At that time, Iranian officials denied that there were technical problems at the plant, but Western diplomats said they were worried about the site’s safety.
The IAEA did not give a reason for Bushehr’s new outage.
