TEHRAN –  No damage to historical sites has been reported as the result of a medium-sized 4.3 magnitude earthquake, which vibrated the ancient city of Izeh in southwestern Khuzestan province on Friday. 

“Based on field visits by experts of the province’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Department, no damage to historical relics and monuments has been reported so far,” Izeh tourism chief, Mehdi Faraji, said on Saturday, CHTN reported.

Buildings in the city, which were constructed of local and traditional materials during the Qajar period (1789-1925), have been abandoned and partially destroyed, so earthquakes here would have devastating consequences, the official added. 

While only a few Izeh monuments have been restored to their original beauty, the maintenance and restoration of these structures remains critical, and they require the support and attention of local and national officials, he noted. 

Khuzestan is home to three UNESCO World Heritage sites of Susa, Tchogha Zanbil, and Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System yet it is a region of raw beauty where its visitors could spend weeks exploring. The province is also a cradle for handicrafts and arts whose crafters inherited from their preceding generations.

Lying at the head of the Persian Gulf and bordering Iraq on the west, Khuzestan was settled about 6000 BC by a people with affinities to the Sumerians, who came from the Zagros Mountains region. Urban centers appeared there nearly contemporaneously with the first cities in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium. Khuzestan, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, came to constitute the heart of the Elamite kingdom, with Susa as its capital.

ABU/AFM