At least five people were killed and hundreds were injured after an earthquake struck north-western Iran, according to officials.

Pictures show houses that have been destroyed by the 5.9-magnitude tremor which struck in the early hours of Friday in East Azerbaijan province.

Most of the injuries were caused by crowd stampedes according to state-run TV reports but this has not been independently verified.

The Middle East country sits on two major tectonic plates and is prone to seismic activity.

More than 26,000 people were killed by a catastrophic 6.6 magnitude earthquake in 2003 which destroyed the historic city of Bam in the south-east of the country.

Today's quake struck near the town of Tark, some 400km (250 miles) north-west of the capital Tehran, at 2:17am local time (22.47 GMT).

As well as killing five people, the quake injured 312 – though only a dozen or more of them required treatment in hospital.

Iran's emergency medical services chief, Pirhossein Kolivand, told state TV: "Rescue teams and helicopters have been dispatched to the quake-hit areas and hospitals are on full alert to help injured people.

State-run IRINN TV said most of the injuries were due to overcrowding as people rushed out of their homes and into the streets in panic.

Up to 30 homes were destroyed near the epicentre, it added.

More than 60 aftershocks have been reported.

Rescue workers are operating in 41 villages, but most of the damage was concentrated in the two villages of Varnakesh and Varzaghan, according to provincial governor Mohammad-Reza Pourmohammadi.

Emergency services have been distributing survival kits, cooking equipment, blankets and tents, according to AFP news agency.

Tremors were reportedly felt as far away as Tehran.

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