Over 170 hurt in 6.3-magnitude earthquake

A 6.3-MAGNITUDE earthquake struck western Iran near its border with Iraq on Sunday night, injuring over 170 people and sending fearful residents running into the street, authorities said.

The temblor hit near Sarpol-e Zahab in Iran’s Kermanshah province, which was the epicentre of an earthquake last year that killed over 600 people and where some still remain homeless.

Morteza Salimi of Iran’s Red Crescent told Iranian state television that 171 people were injured, most of them slightly. Kermanshah provincial Governor Houshang Bazvand similarly said there were injuries, but few people hospitalised.

Authorities said six rescue teams were immediately deployed after the quake stopped and the country’s army and its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard were responding.

Officials reported damage at buildings both in town and in rural Kermanshah, as well as to some roadways. The temblor also downed power lines and caused power outages into the night as temperatures hovered around eight degrees Celsius (46 degrees Fahrenheit).

The quake struck just after 8 p.m. in Iran, meaning most were still awake at the time and able to quickly flee.

The 6.3 earthquake had a depth of 10 kilometres (6.2 miles), according to the US Geological Survey. Iran state TV gave the depth as 5 kilometres (3.1 miles). Such shallow earthquakes have broader damage.

The earthquake was felt as far away as the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

Iran is located on major seismic faults and experiences an earthquake per day on average. In 2003, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake flattened the historic city of Bam in southern Iran, killing 26,000 people.