At least three people were killed and 22 injured Wednesday in a 6.1-magnitude earthquake near Bandar Abbas, a major oil port in the southern Iranian province of Hormuzgan, a local official said.

Yasser Hazbavi, head of the provincial natural disaster headquarters, was quoted as saying by Iran's Khabar news network that rescue teams were at the site and all hospitals in the province were on alert.

An interior ministry spokesman, however, told Khabar news network that only one person was killed and 11 slightly injured.

While predicting that the death toll would not drastically increase, the spokesman said more accurate reports would be announced within the next few hours after all quake-hit areas were inspected by relief aid teams.

The US Geological Service said the quake hit at 1100 GMT about 53 kilometres west of Bandar Abbas.

The main quake was followed by ten aftershocks, the biggest with a magnitude of 4.8 on the Richter scale. The epicentre of the quake was reportedly the island Qeshm in the southern Gulf.

Khabar said that the quake hit the port of Bandar Abbas and at least six nearby towns and ports and caused huge panic among the residents of these areas.

The earthquake could be felt across from the Gulf in the United Arab Emirates, where buildings were evacuated because of the tremors, news reports said.