Byline: Ekene Nwosu May 15, 2026

A moderate earthquake struck Iran’s capital, Tehran, late Tuesday night, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The USGS recorded the quake at magnitude 4.3, occurring at 11:46 p.m. local time, 2016 GMT. Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported a slightly higher magnitude of 4.6, saying the tremor hit east of the capital in the Pardis area at a depth of about 10 kilometers.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or property damage. IRIB said the tremor was also felt in Karaj, a suburb roughly 40 kilometers west of Tehran.

Iran sits on one of the world’s most seismically active zones, at the convergence of the Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates. The country experiences frequent earthquakes, often shallow and destructive due to older infrastructure.

The nation’s deadliest recent quakes include the 1990 Rudbar-Tarom earthquake, magnitude 7.4, which killed over 40,000 people, and the 2003 Bam earthquake, magnitude 6.6, which claimed more than 26,000 lives.