EHRAN, Nov 8 (KUNA) -- A 5.9 degree earthquake hit northwestern Iran at dawn on Friday claiming at least five lives and leaving scores of people suffering from various injuries.

Official news agency, IRNA, said most of the casualties were reported in suburbs of the town of Mianeh, located in East Azerbaijan province.
Farzad Rahmani, in charge of accidents and medical emergency department in East Azerbaijan, confirmed that the five people perished in the quake that struck outskirts of Mianeh at dawn today.

In the town of Sarab, also situated in East Azerbaijan, 65 people were injured, hurt or suffered psychological shock due to the tremors, according to IRAN. It indicated that a number of them were hurt as they were running in panic toward safer locations.

Iran sits on two major tectonic plates and often witnesses seismic activity.
The ancient Iranian town of Bam was ravaged by a fierce quake in 2003, killing more than 30,000 people. A major quake in 1990 killed 40,000 people in the north.