Kerman Jolted

An earthquake measuring 4.4 degrees on the Richter scale jolted Zarand in the northern part of Kerman Province, early Tuesday. According to the Geophysics Institute of Tehran University, the tremor occurred at 9:46 am local time, and was registered at a depth of 12 km, IRNA reported. There were no reports of  damages or casualties. Zarand is located 75 km northwest of the provincial capital Kerman and has 13,000 households. Iran sits astride several major seismic faults, and is prone to frequent earthquakes, many of which have been devastating. The worst in recent times hit Bam in Kerman Province in December 2003, killing 26,000 people - about a quarter of its population - and destroying the city’s ancient mud-built citadel.