Tabriz, East Azarbaijan Prov, Dec 2, IRNA - The northwestern city of Tabriz was hit by the third consecutive quake in the past nine hours on Sunday morning.

A quake measuring 3.4 on the Richter scale jolted Tabriz and its vicinity in this northwestern province at 06:23 hours local time (0253 GMT) Sunday.

The seismological base of Tabriz affiliated to the Geophysics Institute of Tehran University said the quake was epicentered in an area near Kand-Rud, east of the provincial capital of Tabriz, locating 46.42 degrees in longitude and 38.09 degrees in latitude.

Two earthquakes measuring 3.9 and 4.6 on the Richter scale jolted Tabriz last night within 20 minutes.

Following the three quakes which hit the city of Tabriz and its nearby areas Saturday evening and early Sunday morning, the provincial education department had all primary schools closed on Sunday.

There are no reports of any casualty or damage to property caused by the quakes.

Iran is often hit by quakes of varying magnitudes as it sits on some of the world's most active seismic fault lines.

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