Two earthquakes measuring 5.6 and 5.8 on the Richter scale shook a desert area in southern Iran this evening, causing some fatalities, a government official said.
"There have been some deaths but we don't know how many yet," an Interior Ministry official said.
He said the quakes struck the Zarrin Dasht area in the southern Fars province south of the city of Shiraz. The first quake struck at 9.36 p.m. (6.06 p.m. Irish time) and the second at 10.12 p.m.
"Some villages were damaged," the official said, adding that the area was not heavily populated.