Iraq earthquake: Magnitude 5.3 shock hits near city of Sulaimaniya

The quake occurred 71 kilometres southeast of the city at a depth of 10 kilometres

Iraqi Kurds visit at a monument for the victims who were killed in a gas attack by former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in 1988 during 26th anniversary of the attack in the Kurdish town of Halabja.

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck near the Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya on Saturday, the US Geological Survey reported.

USGS said the quake occurred 71 km southeast of the city at a depth of 10 km.

No immediate information on the damage caused by the quake was available.

Elsewhere, an Iranian semi-official news agency reported that a 5.1-magnitude earthquake jolted the western region bordering Iraq.

Fars news agency reported Saturday the quake hit Ezgeleh district, which has a population of roughly 30,000 in western Kermanshah province.

A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck in November 2018 a nearby area and injured more than 500 people.

Iran is prone to frequent quakes as it sits on major fault lines. A 6.6 magnitude earthquake flattened the historic city of Bam in 2003, killing 26,000 people.