NNA - Three people were killed and 816 injured in a 5.9-magnitude earthquake that struck northwestern Iran near the border with Turkey, the official Iranian News Agency (IRNA) reported yesterday.

The Seismological Center at the University of Tehran stated that the quake hit the city of Khoy in West Azerbaijan Province, northwest of Iran, at 21:44 (18:14 GMT).

"This earthquake has so far killed three people and injured 816 people," the governor of West Azerbaijan, Mohammad Sadiq Motamedian, quoted by IRNA.

Interior Minister Ahmed Wahidi headed to Khoy to supervise the situation, according to Agence France-Presse.

Iran is located on a number of tectonic plates and is witnessing intense seismic activity.

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