Damascus, Aug 16 (IANS): A 4.9-magnitude earthquake hit east of the central province of Hama on Friday, days after a bigger one jolted the region, resulting in injuries and panic among the public, according to official and medical sources.

The earthquake was recorded 23 km west of the city of Salamiyah, located in the eastern countryside of Hama province, at 1:15 p.m. local time (1015 GMT), reported the Syrian National Earthquake Centre.

Osama Malham, Director of Salamiyah National Hospital, was cited by Syrian state TV as saying that 17 people were injured and experienced panic because of the earthquake.

The seismic monitoring stations at the National Earthquake Center recorded a total of nine tremors from Thursday until 8 a.m. Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

All of these quakes were classified as mild to moderate, which the center expects will persist, albeit less frequently, in the near future.

On Monday night, a 5.5-magnitude earthquake struck 28 km east of Hama, leading to the death of an elderly woman and the injury of around 25 people, according to the state news agency SANA.