Iran, Iraq hit by deadly cross-border quake
TEHRAN: A powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake that struck the Iraq-Iran border region killed nearly 400 people across both countries, sent people fleeing their homes into the night and was felt as far away as the Mediterranean coast.
Iran’s western Kermanshah province bore the brunt of the temblor, with Iran’s state-run news agency reporting the quake killed 341 people in the country and injured 5,953. The area is a rural, mountainous region where residents rely mainly on farming to make a living.
In Iraq, the earthquake killed at least seven people and injured 535 there, all in the country’s northern, semi-autonomous Kurdish region, according to Iraq’s Interior Ministry.
The quake struck 23.2km below the surface and was centered 31km outside the eastern Iraqi city of Halabja, according to the most recent measurements from the US Geological Survey. More than 100 aftershocks followed.
The quake’s worst damage appeared to be in the town of Sarpol-e-Zahab in Kermanshah province, which sits in the Zagros Mountains that divide Iran and Iraq.
Kokab Fard, a 49-year-old housewife in Sarpol-e-Zahab, said she could only flee empty-handed when her apartment complex collapsed.
“Immediately after I managed to get out, the building collapsed,” Ms Fard said. “I have no access to my belongings.”
Reza Mohammadi, 51, said he and his family ran out into the alley following the first shock.
“I tried to get back to pick some stuff but it totally collapsed in the second wave,” Mr Mohammadi said.
In Iraq, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told the country’s civil defence teams and “related institutions” to respond to the natural disaster.
The quake could be felt across Iraq, shaking buildings and homes from Irbil to Baghdad, where people fled into the streets of the capital.
Amina Mohammed, who survived the quake in Darbandikhan, Iraq, said she and her sons escaped their home as it collapsed around them.
“I think it was only God that saved us,” she said. “I screamed to God and it must have been him to stop the stairs from entirely collapsing on us.”