"Up to this moment,… we have not received any reports of casualties or damage," the head of the crisis management body in the affected province of Kermanshah, Iran, told state television.
According to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center, the epicenter of the tremors was 98 km to the northwest of the Iranian city of Ilam and 170 km to the northeast of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. The epicenter was at a depth of 52 km.
"Today's earthquake has left 23 people injured up to this moment, who received treatment as outpatients," Maziar Tahmasebi said as quoted by the Tasnim news agency.
#earthquake #iraq #iran 5.3 magnitude https://t.co/Zrvow7ky3g pic.twitter.com/04oFm93Ok5
— Ibrahim Sherkhan (@isherkhan0) April 1, 2018
Eyewitnesses of latest #earthquake in #Irak #Iran border region are real fast to launch our LastQuake app pic.twitter.com/AfhB2dJ7VM
— EMSC (@LastQuake) April 1, 2018
READ MORE: 6.0 Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Eastern Iran
Iran is situated on major fault lines and is prone to near-daily earthquakes.
A 7.2-magnitude earthquake in November rocked the Kurdish town of Sarpol-e-Zahab and killed 600 people.
In 2003, a 6.6-magnitude earthquake razed the historic city of Bam to the ground, killing 26,000 people.