TEHRAN (BNO NEWS) -- More than 200 people were injured on late Thursday afternoon when a moderate earthquake struck near a city in northeastern Iran, state-run media reported on late Friday. A number of buildings in the region collapsed.

The 5.5-magnitude earthquake at 4.05 p.m. local time (1235 GMT) was centered about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) northeast of Nishapur, a city in the province of Razavi Khorasan near the border with Turkmenistan. It struck about 8 kilometers (4.9 miles) deep, making it a very shallow earthquake, according to the Iranian Seismological Center.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS), which measured the strength of the earthquake at 5.1 on the moment magnitude scale, estimated that some 268,000 people may have experienced strong shaking. An estimated 2.7 million others may have felt light to moderate shaking.

"The population in this region resides in structures that are highly vulnerable to earthquake shaking, though some resistant structures exist," the USGS said. "The predominant vulnerable building types are adobe block and unreinforced brick with timber floor construction."

Officials said a number of buildings in nearby towns and cities had been damaged or collapsed, causing injuries. Iran's Fars News Agency reported on Friday that the number of injured had risen to at least 230, including about 30 people who had to be hospitalized.

Earthquakes, even light and moderate ones, often cause heavy damage and large numbers of casualties in certain parts of the country due to poor construction, especially when they hit during the night when most residents are sleeping.

On December 20, 2010, at least seven people were killed and hundreds more were injured when a strong 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck 16 kilometers (9.9 miles) from the town of Hosein abad in Kerman Province, located in southeastern Iran.

And on August 27, 2010, two young children were killed and more than a dozen others were injured when a moderate 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck 76 kilometers (47 miles) from Damghan, a city in the country's Semnan Province.

Before that, in November 2009, a light 4.9-magnitude earthquake struck the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, injuring more than 700 people. In December 2003, around 31,000 people were killed and more than 30,000 others were injured when a strong 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck near Bam. It left the area devastated with 85 percent of buildings damaged or destroyed in the city.

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