TEHRAN, Iran - Three strong earthquakes and their aftershocks reduced entire villages to rubble in western Iran early Friday, killing at least 50 people and injuring hundreds, state media reported.

People dig through the rubble of a village flattened by two strong earthquakes in western Iran early Friday March 31, 2006 in this image from Iranian television. [AP]

At least 13 tremors jolted the mountainous region throughout the night, state television reported, saying the first one had a preliminary magnitude of 5.1 and struck around 1 a.m. local time.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported a 5.7 magnitude quake shortly before 5 a.m. local time., followed by a 4.7 magnitude aftershock about 15 minutes later. The area had been hit by a 4.7-magnitude quake the day before, the USGS said.

The quakes were centered near Boroujerd and Doroud, two industrial cities about 210 miles southwest of Tehran, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

Provincial official Ali Barani said about 200 villages were damaged, some flattened.

State-run television said 50 bodies had been pulled out of destroyed houses in Silakhor, a region north of Doroud. The broadcast said 850 people were injured.

Barani told IRNA rescue teams had been sent to the region. He said survivors were in urgent need of blankets, tents and food.

Television showed survivors standing next to their destroyed houses in villages north of Doroud. The television also showed dozens of sheep and goats killed by the quake.

Barani said hospitals in Doroud and Boroujerd were full to their capacity.

Officials called on doctors and nurses on leave to get back to work. Iranians are celebrating Nowruz, or new year, and most government offices are closed and their staff on holiday.

The quakes damaged buildings and toppled telephone lines in Doroud, IRNA quoted officials there as saying. People ran into the streets in panic, and refused to return to their homes.

"We are afraid to get back home. I spent the night with my family and guests in open space last night," Doroud resident Mahmoud Chaharmiri told The Associated Press by telephone.

But Chaharmiri said there were no scenes of destruction in Doroud such as those after previous quakes.

In February 2005, a 6.4-magnitude quake in southern Iran killed 612 people and injured more than 1,400.

A magnitude 6.6 quake flattened the historic southeastern city of Bam in the same region in December 2003, killing 26,000 people.

Iran is located on seismic fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. On average, it experiences at least one slight earthquake every day.