Iran quake kills seven but oil terminal unscathed

By Parisa Hafezi and Fredrik Dahl

TEHRAN (Reuters) - A powerful earthquake struck southern Iran on Wednesday near Bandar Abbas, site of a major oil refinery, killing at least seven people and injuring 40, officials and state media said.

Iran is the world's fourth largest oil exporter and Bandar Abbas is a major port with oil installations including a refinery. An industry official told Reuters last month that Bandar Abbas was processing 320,000 barrels per day of crude.

The U.S. Geological Service said the quake's magnitude was 6.1 and it struck at 1100 GMT (12 p.m. British time) about 53 km (33 miles) west-southwest of Bandar Abbas at a depth of 34.6 miles (55 km).

Iran's official IRNA news agency also put the quake at 6.1 on the Richter scale, after earlier Iranian reports had said it could be as high as 7.5. Any quake above magnitude 6 can cause severe damage.

Yasser Hazbavi, the provincial head for the disaster headquarters, said seven people were killed in the tremor and 40 were injured, state television reported. State media also said aftershocks rattled the area.

"Fortunately, there was no damage to the oil industry's facilities at Bandar Abbas," Hojjatollah Ghanimifard, vice president for investment affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company, told Reuters.

Iranian state television quoted a Red Crescent official as saying rescue workers were searching for casualties.

It said 15 people were injured on Qeshm, an island in the southern Gulf close to where the tremor struck. ISNA news agency said the quake cut off power to the island.