Four killed by Iran earthquake so strong it shook skyscrapers in Dubai

Iran's seismological centre said a magnitude 6 quake struck, with the epicentre about 850 miles south of the capital of Tehran, in the region of Bandar Abbas.

An Iranian official said 10 aftershocks were registered following the quake, each of a magnitude of 4.7 or less. All the casualties were in Iran.

Office workers fled some of the high-rise towers in Dubai after the magnitude 6 quake, which lasted around a minute

Across the Persian Gulf waters, residents in Dubai and neighbouring emirates - home to millions of British expats - reported feeling shaking that lasted a minute.

The tremors sent office workers rushing out of some of the high-rise towers that dot the skyline in the city-state's commercial centre.

A Dubai Civil Defence official said he received several calls from panicked residents saying their beds were shaking and their furniture was collapsing.

'My bed was hitting against the wall,' said Rheanne Anderson, a Canadian teacher living in the nearby emirate of Ras al-Khaimah.

'There was definitely some shaking.'

There were no reports of damage or casualties in the Emirates.

Iran is located on seismic fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. It experiences at least one slight earthquake every day on average, and new houses in the region are built to resist earthquakes.

In February 2005, a magnitude 6.4 quake rocked the town of Zarand in southern Iran, killing 612 people and injuring more than 1,400.

A magnitude 6.6 quake flattened the historic city of Bam in the same region in December 2003, killing 26,000 people.