The temblor struck an area near the city of Gotvand in Khuzestan at 9:04 a.m. (local time) on Saturday, said the director general of the province’s crisis management department, Kiamars Hajizadeh.
He said the epicenter of the quake with a depth of 16 km is located 15 km from Gotvand and 15 km from the city of Lali.
Following the earthquake, rescue workers of local emergency services and the Iranian Red Crescent Society are on full alert, the official added.
Hajizadeh went on to say that no casualties have been reported so far.
Iran is one of the most seismically active countries in the world, being crossed by several major fault lines that cover at least 90% of the country. As a result, earthquakes in Iran occur often and are destructive.
On November 12, the western province of Kermanshah was hit by a major 7.3-magnitude quake that killed 620 people according to the latest toll.
The deadliest quake in Iran's modern history happened in June 1990. It destroyed the northern cities of Rudbar, Manjil, and Lushan, along with hundreds of villages, killing an estimated 37,000 people.
Bam in the country’s southeastern province of Kerman witnessed a strong quake in December 2003 which killed 31,000 people.