A 5.9-magnitude earthquake hit the border between Turkey and Iran on Saturday, destroying houses in an important city in the Iranian province, Iranian media and the European Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) said.

“The degree of destruction of some houses and buildings in the city of Hoi is relatively large,” Iranian emergency services spokesman Mojtaba Khaledi told the YJC news agency, Reuters and News.ro reported.

The earthquake had a magnitude of 5.6 and occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the EMSC.

Iranian media reported that an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9 occurred near the city of Khoi in the Iranian province of West Azerbaijan.

Iran’s emergency services said rescue teams had been dispatched to the area and that hospitals had been put on alert, state media reported.

An emergency services official said on state television that some areas affected by the earthquake had experienced sub-zero temperatures and some power outages.

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