Update - Magnitude 6.1 Quake Strikes Northeast of Iran

Two people died and 15 were wounded after a 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck the central and eastern parts of Khorasan Razavi Province on Wednesday.

The quake's epicenter was in Sefid Sang Village, near the provincial capital Mashhad. According to a report by a seismography center affiliated to Tehran University Geophysics Institute, the tremor occurred at 10:40 am local time around 81 km southwest of the shrine city of Mashhad at a depth of 10 km, news outlets reported.

"We have all the emergency teams on call and there is no concern regarding the provision of aid services," Mojtaba Khaledi, spokesperson of the country's Emergency Services Organization, was quoted by IRNA as saying.

He acknowledged that there are fears that casualties in villages and small towns could be high.

The quake also shook neighboring cities of Gonabad and Torbat Heydarieh. All hospitals in the three cities were on standby, and 10 ambulances and five teams of Iranian Red Crescent Society, comprising 25 rescue and relief staff, were deployed to the stricken areas.

In Mashhad, home to nearly 3 million people, residents left their homes and poured into the streets. Pictures posted on social media showed deep cracks in the roads and buildings, including the wall of Imam Reza Bazaar adjacent to the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS), the Eighth Shia Imam.

Telephone lines in a number of affected areas were cut off in the early hours after the quake hit and authorities were in contact with different areas through wireless communication.

Barely an hour after the tremor 15 aftershocks were registered measuring between 3 and 5 degree magnitude.

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