Earthquakes
According to AP, citing an emergency official, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake in northwestern Iran killed at least 5 people and injured 300 others. Earlier media reports have put the death toll at 3 persons, while suggesting that only 20 people were injured.
The magnitude of the tremors was later downgraded by the EMSC to 5.6, while the initial report suggested that the northwestern region of Iran had been hit by a more powerful quake.
The epicenter of the quake, initially reported as a magnitude 6.0, was located some 65 km (40 miles) of Herowabad.

The first tremors were recorded close to the Wildhorn peak, about 8km southeast of the Sanetsch Pass between cantons Bern and Valais.
The first 3.3-magnitude quake struck at 1.54am on Tuesday at a depth of 5.3 kilometres, according to the Swiss Seismological Service (SED) at the Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich.
A second 3.3 tremor was recorded at 4.36am at a depth of 4.7 kilometres. The epicentre was towards the Wildhorn peak, about 8km southeast of the Sanetsch Pass.
According to Cal Tech, there have been more than 1000 earthquakes in California and Nevada over the last week, but of course most of them have been very small. Overall, the latest USGS numbers tell us that there have been more than 2,000 earthquakes nationally during the last 7 days, and apparently we aren't supposed to be alarmed by that. But could it be possible that all of this seismic activity is leading up to something really big?
Over the weekend, we witnessed some very unusual quakes in the middle of the country. On Sunday, a magnitude 3.2 earthquake rattled Kansas...
The magnitude 6.6 quake happened at a depth of just over 10km on Tuesday morning, the United States Geological Survey agency reports.
"A strong earthquake with shallow depth source location occurred 289km NNW from Nuku'alofa, Tonga," Seismology Fiji tweeted.
"However, it does not pose any immediate tsunami threat to the Fiji region."

Large crowds of Chilean anti-austerity protesters received a shock after the magnitude 6.0 quake struck.
A magnitude-6.0 quake has struck near the coastal city of Coquimbo in central Chile, the US Geological Survey says, causing building to shake in capital city Santiago but no damage.
The quake, reported earlier by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) as a magnitude of 6.0, struck near the coast some 143 km northeast of port city Valparaiso, at a depth of 49km on Monday, the USGS said.
Chile's national emergency office said there were no preliminary reports of injuries to people or damage to property or infrastructure.
The quake, which struck on land, was not strong enough to produce a tsunami along Chile's coast, the nation's navy said.
Mining firm Antofagasta Plc, whose Pelambres copper mine is near the epicenter of the quake, said the mine was operating normally.
The epicenter, with a depth of 10.0 km, was initially determined to be at 55.6919 degrees south latitude and 26.3016 degrees west longitude.
Source: Xinhua

Social media video grab shows a man looking at a damaged hotel building after an earthquake in Kidapawan City.
The integrity of several buildings and homes on Mindanao have already been weakened by a 6.3 earthquake that struck on Oct. 16 and another 6.6 quake on Oct. 29.
A social welfare officer said five people in North Cotabato province died due to the quake, including a village chief when the office wall collapsed on him. This brought the number of killed to 20 in the series of tremors since Oct. 16.
The latest quake occurred 33 km (20 miles) northeast of Tulunan town in Cotabato province, which lies west of Davao City, where President Rodrigo Duterte was when it happened. His spokesman, Salvador Panelo said the Philippine leader is safe.

A damaged local town hall is seen in Mabini, Davao Del Sur, Philippines after a magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck October 29, 2019 in this picture obtained from social media
The shallow tremor hit the island of Mindanao in the same region where a deadly quake struck earlier this month, the US Geological Survey said, adding there was no tsunami threat.
The quake hit near the town of Kisante, less than 100km from Davao City, the hometown of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and one of the most populated cities in the country. It was about 50km deep.
"Our municipal hall has been destroyed," said Reuel Limbungan, mayor of Tulunan, a town near the epicentre.
"We are receiving lots of reports of injuries, but we have to confirm them," he said.
Rescue teams have begun fanning out to assess the damage to the region, where electricity and phone services were knocked out by the power of the quake.
The earthquake, which struck at 4:08 p.m. GMT on Wednesday, was centered along the equator in the Atlantic Ocean, about 755 kilometers (469 miles) northeast of Ascension Island, which is part of the United Kingdom, or 858 kilometers (533 miles) southwest of Liberia.
Seismologists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) put the magnitude at 6.3, down from an initial estimate of 6.5. They said it struck about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) below the seabed, making it a very shallow earthquake.
Comment: A shallow 6.1-magnitude quake hit the same region three days ago.