As Iran and Israel remain locked in conflict for the fourth consecutive day, two earthquakes on Sunday night struck the Pakistan-Iran border region, leading to speculation surrounding the nature of the tremors.

 

While social media argued possible nuclear activity, Met Office data said the tremors were nothing but earthquakes – a 2.5-magnitude quake in the Qom region near the Fordow Nuclear Power Plant, and a 4.3-magnitude earthquake in the southwestern Iranian province of Sistan that is contiguous with Pakistan’s Balochistan.

 

No casualties were reported in the earthquakes that come hours after Israeli attacks on alleged Iranian nuclear facilities, namely Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow. While the strikes and ambiguity surrounding Iran’s nuclear status led to social media buzz, a day earlier, media reports quoted an Iranian official as confirming that the Israeli airstrikes had earlier hit the Fordow site, which is known for its deep-underground enrichment capabilities.

 

The latest military exchange between the archrivals also began when Israel struck Iran’s nuclear and military sites on Friday, killing top commanders and six of its atomic scientists. Israeli strikes prompted Iran to unleash attacks with a barrage of missiles in Tel Aviv, wounding multiple.

 

Tel Aviv has said it wants to stop Tehran from building an atomic weapon, which the latter has consistently denied, stating its uranium enrichment programme is for civilian purposes.

 

Series of attacks have continued ever since, resulting in multiple casualties on both sides.

 

Media reports claimed that as many as 220 individuals, including 70 women, children, top commanders and nuclear scientists, have been killed in Israel’s attack on Iran.

 

Several casualties have been reported in Tel Aviv following a series of missile attacks launched by Iran in response to Israel’s aggression.