Strong earthquake jolts southern Iran; kills five, injures several

Tehran: At least five people have been killed while 44 others sustained injuries after a magnitude-6.3 earthquake jolted southern Iran on Saturday, state media reported. 

At least five people were killed by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake, with the area also hit by two later strong quakes of up to 6.3 magnitudes. 

There were more than a dozen aftershocks.

The quake was relatively shallow at a depth of roughly 10 kilometers and its epicenter was in a comparatively sparsely populated area.

Rescue teams were deployed near the epicenter, Sayeh Khosh village, which is home to around 300 people in Hormozgan province. 

People went into the streets as aftershocks continued to jolt the area after the early morning quake, which also damaged buildings and infrastructure. 

Iran's deadliest quake was a 7.4-magnitude tremor that struck in 1990, killing 40,000 people in the north of the country.