At least three people were killed and more than 440 injured in a magnitude 5.9 earthquake in northwestern Iran. The epicenter of the quake was in the city of Choi in the province of West Azerbaijan, as Iranian media reported on Sunday night. Accordingly, numerous buildings were damaged in Choi and in dozens of other towns in the border region with Turkey. According to local authorities, the area was shaken by twelve more aftershocks on Sunday night.

According to the Geoforschungszentrum Potsdam, the earthquake occurred in the evening at around 9:44 p.m. (local time) at a depth of 10 kilometers. The Iranian government immediately dispatched Red Crescent rescue workers to the affected areas. For fear of further aftershocks, more than 70,000 families had to spend the night outside despite the freezing cold.

Only on Wednesday a week ago there had already been an earthquake in the region. At least 120 people were injured and hundreds of buildings damaged.