Breaking News: Earthquake near Iran nuclear power plant

The earthquake hit Iran on a morning when the world woke up to news of Iranian missile strikes on Iraqi bases housing US-led coalition personnel, nuclear plant and the crash of a Ukrainian passenger jet near Tehran’s airport.

A natural, 4.9-magnitude earthquake struck Iran near the Bushehr nuclear plant Wednesday, reports said, as tensions in the Middle East soared following Iranian missile strikes on Iraqi bases housing US troops.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the earthquake struck 10 km southeast of Borazjan, Iran — marked with a gold star on the map below — and at a depth of 10 km.

The map shows the respective locations of the earthquake’s epicentre and the city of Bushehr, near which the nuclear plant is located.

Borazjan is a nearly 70-km drive away from Bushehr.

“The depth and epicenter indicate it was a natural event and unrelated to this evening’s [US time] events. A similar earthquake struck in late December,” the website Strategic Sentinel tweeted.

The earthquake hit on a morning when the world woke up to news of Iranian missile strikes on Iraqi bases housing US-led coalition personnel, and the crash of a Ukrainian passenger jet near Tehran’s airport.

The Iranian offensive was retaliation for a US drone strike that killed a man believed to be the Middle East nation’s second most powerful figure, the Quds Force commander Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

A top Iranian official has now warned that any “adverse military action” by the US would lead to an “all out war across the region”.