An earthquake on Saturday night caused massive devastation and loss of life and property in Khoya city of West Azarbaijan province of northwestern Iran.

The intensity of the earthquake was measured at 5.9 on the Richter scale. According to TRT World, seven people died and around 440 were injured in the earthquake. Besides Khoe, tremors were felt in several nearby towns. The USGS said the earthquake occurred at 23:44:44 (UTC+05:30). 

According to Iranian news agency IRNA, the tremors were strong and were felt in several areas of Iran's West Azerbaijan province. The quake was also felt in several cities, including Tabriz, the provincial capital of neighboring East Azerbaijan. Khoy is a city in Khoy County and the capital of West Azerbaijan Province of Iran.  

 A loud explosion was heard at a military plant in Iran's central city of Isfahan, but a security official said there were no casualties. Iranian state broadcaster IRIB gave this information on its website in the early hours of Sunday. The IRIB reported, without giving further details, that the explosion occurred at one of the defense ministry's ammunition manufacturing centers and there were no casualties, according to an announcement by Isfahan Governorate's political and security deputy chief. 

The main reason for the occurrence of earthquakes is the collision of plates inside the earth. There are seven plates inside the earth which keep on rotating continuously. When these plates collide at some point, a fault line zone is formed there and the corners of the surface are folded. Due to the cornering of the surface, pressure builds up there and the plates start breaking. Due to the breakdown of these plates, the energy inside finds a way to come out, due to which the earth shakes and we consider it as an earthquake. earthquake intensity 

Earthquakes with a magnitude of less than 2.0 on the Richter scale are classified as micro and cannot be felt. 8,000 earthquakes of micro category on the Richter scale are recorded daily worldwide. Similarly, earthquakes with a magnitude of 2.0 to 2.9 are kept in the minor category. 1,000 such earthquakes occur daily, we do not even normally feel it. Very light earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 to 3.9 are recorded 49,000 times in a year. They are felt but hardly cause any harm.

Light category earthquakes are 4.0 to 4.9 magnitude which are recorded on the Richter scale about 6,200 times in a year all over the world. These tremors are felt and household items are seen moving due to them. However, they cause negligible damage.