According to the US Geological Survey the epicentre of the quake was 86km southeast of Khash, Iran.

Initial reports put the death toll at 40, with officials saying that hundreds are feared dead from the quake.

“It was the biggest earthquake in Iran in 40 years and we are expecting hundreds of dead,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.

The Geophysics Institute of Tehran University registered the quake at 15:14 hours local time.

The quake lasted for 40 seconds. The area has already been hit by several aftershocks, including the last one which measured 4.4 on the Richter scale, Fars news agency reported.

According to reports the earthquake was felt in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan including Delhi, India’s capital.

A powerful 6.3 magnitude quake struck close to Iran’s only nuclear power station on April 9, killing 39 people and injuring 850 as it destroyed houses and two villages.

  Most of Iran’s nuclear-related facilities are located in central Iran or its west, including the Bushehr nuclear power plant on the Gulf coast.  

The nearby Bushehr nuclear plant remained undamaged.

The deadliest quake in the country was in June 1990 and measured 7.7 on the Richter scale. About 37,000 people were killed and more than 100,000 injured in the northwestern provinces of Gilan and Zanjan. It devastated 27 towns and about 1,870 villages, according to Fars news agency.

2009 quake left the city of Aquila in central Italy in rubble. Historic buildings crumbled in the 6.3 magnitude quake, 309 died, and thousands were left homeless.

Today, a team of Italian scientists have been found guilty of manslaughter for failing to warn citizens of the massive earthquake about to happen. The judicial decision has infuriated the global scientific community.

The seven accused had been part of the region’s Major Risks Committee which had met on March 31 2009, six days before the earthquake. They issued a statement designed to reassure residents after studying tremors in the area, which stressed it was impossible to say when another event may occur.

In court, prosecutor Fabio Picuti said they had given “an incomplete, inept, unsuitable and criminally mistaken analysis.”

Immediately after the quake charges were brought against six government scientists, and an official, for not sufficiently warning people of the risks of another seismic event. The case has been closed only today.

Defence lawyers said the buildings in Aquila were “medieval”, therefore not safe, or strong. He stated that earthquakes cannot be predicted, and quoted some statements from the  5,000 letters sent by scientists from around the world to the Italian Government.

The only hope the scientists have now is to remain free from jail until an appeals process is completed. Legal experts are feverishly working on the case; however, the Italian Government seems to be adamant in making an example of these men.