Quake hits southern Iran

An earthquake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale jolted the city of Pir in southern province of Fars Wednesday morning.     According to the seismological base of the Geophysics Institute of Tehran University, the tremor occurred at 09:36 hours local time (06:06 GMT). The quake was epicentered in an area located at 28.59 degrees latitude and 54.16 degrees longitude. There were no reports of any casualty or damage to property caused by the quake. Iran sits over several major faults in the earth's crust, and is prone to frequent earthquakes, many of which have been devastating. The worst in recent times hit Bam in southeastern Kerman province in December 2003, killing over 30,000 people - about a quarter of its population - and destroying the city's ancient mud-built citadel. The deadliest quake in the country was in June 1990 and measured 7.7 on the Richter scale. About 37,000 people were killed and more than 100,000 injured in the northwestern provinces of Gilan and Zanjan. It devastated 27 towns and about 1,870 villages.