TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's state TV reports a moderate earthquake has jolted the city of Neyshabour in the northeast part of Iran.

The TV report said residents fled their homes into the streets. The quake shattered windows and affected communications for a short time.

No casualties were immediately reported. Rescue teams rushed to the area.

The city of 220,000 is about 900 kilometres northeast of the capital Tehran at 16:05 local time. The semiofficial Fars news agency said the quake measured 5.5 on the Richter scale.

Iran is located on seismic fault lines and is prone to earthquakes, experiencing at least one slight quake a day on average.

In 2003, some 26,000 people were killed by a magnitude 6.6 quake that flattened the historic southeastern city of Bam.