Israel: Two earthquakes recorded in Iran

Israel said it recorded two earthquakes of magnitude 2.8 on Wednesday, while Iran reported a second one, the first of its magnitude.

The first quake was a magnitude 1.7, the second a magnitude 2, the Israeli army said.

The earthquakes occurred about 10 minutes apart, the military said, and were felt all along the Iranian-Israeli border.

Iranian seismologist Ali Hossein said the first quake took place in the town of Qazvin, which lies about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) north of the city of Qom, and that it was followed by a wave of shaking that struck the city.

Qazvin is a city of nearly two million people, where Iran has a sizeable minority.

Hossein said Iran was working to prevent the spread of the earthquake.

He said that although the earthquake’s epicenter was in Qazvins area, it was not immediately clear where the quake originated.

A wave of damage was also reported near the town, which was under heavy police guard.

A second quake was recorded at 6:48 a.m.

(0148 GMT) in the city’s area.

It was centered about 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of Qumran.

A local Iranian official said the second quake took a different path and struck a rural area.

He did not immediately give a cause for the second earthquake, which came a few hours after a similar quake occurred in the northern city of Khuzestan.

Iran says it has not seen any new tremors in the region since a series of smaller earthquakes in May and June, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.