The latest earthquake hit in the west of the Middle Eastern country in the same area that was starting to recover after more than 600 people were killed in the region in November.

A number of aftershocks affected the area after the initial earthquake.

The earthquake hit Iran’s western province of Kermanshah.

The semiofficial ISNA news agency says the Kurdish town of Sarpol-e Zahab, about 520 kilometers west of Tehran, was near the epicentre of the quake.

According to the state media’s report, the earthquake “affected an area of eight kilometers (five miles) and injured eight people.”

However, in a contradictory statement, Kermanshan Province Governor Hushang Bazvand reported no damage or casualties.

“Fortunately, after all the checks that have been made in the area, there are no reports yet of any damage or casualties,” he told state television.

The earthquake struck near where a 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit in November, killing more than 600 people and injuring more than 9,000.

Some 50 percent of the casualties occurred in Sarpol-e Zahab during that earthquake..

Across the border in Iraq, the earthquake killed at least nine people and injured 550 others, all in the country’s northern, semi-autonomous Kurdish region, according to its Interior Ministry.

More than 400 aftershocks have struck since, leaving even those with homes to return to afraid to retrieve their belongings.

A magnitude 6.6 earthquake flattened the historic city of Bam in south Iran and killed 26,000 people in 2003.

Iran has several major seismic faults within its territory and often experiences quakes.