MOSCOW/TEHRAN, November 22 (RIA Novosti) - The province of Hormozgan, southern Iran, was hit by an earthquake on Thursday morning, the IRNA news agency reported.

The quake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale occurred at 7:15 a.m. local time (3:45 a.m. GMT). There are no reports of casualties or damage.

This is the second earthquake to hit the Islamic Republic this week. On Tuesday, the oil-rich province of Khuzestan, in southwest Iran, experienced a 5.1 magnitude quake, which caused slight damage to buildings and some 30 students suffered minor injuries.

Iran is highly prone to earthquakes, and over 31,000 people have died in separate tremors in the country since 2003. In 2003, the city of Bam was hit by a quake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale and in 2005 a quake of 6.4 shook the town of Zarand.