Iraq border earthquake kills hundreds in Iran
A 7.3 magnitude earthquake near the Iraq-Iran border has killed more than 400 people and sent residents fleeing their homes into the night, authorities said.
Iran’s western Kermanshah province bore the brunt of the quake on Sunday night, with authorities saying the quake killed 407 people in the country and injured 6,700.
Kermanshah is a rural, mountainous region where residents rely mainly on farming.
In Iraq, the earthquake killed at least seven people and injured 535, all in the country’s northern Kurdish region, according to Iraq’s Interior Ministry.
The quake was centred 19 miles (31km) outside the eastern Iraqi city of Halabja, according to the most recent measurements from the US Geological Survey.
It struck at 9.48pm Iran time, just as people began retiring for the night.
It could be felt on the Mediterranean coast, some 660 miles (1,000km) away.
The earthquake struck 23.2km (14.4 miles) below the surface, a shallow depth that can amplify damage.
Iranian social media and news agencies showed images and videos of people fleeing their homes. More than 100 aftershocks followed.
The quake’s worst damage appeared to be in the town of Sarpole-Zahab in Kermanshah province, which sits in the Zagros Mountains that divide Iran and Iraq.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei offered his condolences and urged rescuers and government agencies to do all they could to help those affected, state media reported.
President Hassan Rouhani is scheduled to tour earthquake-damaged areas today.
In Iraq, Prime Minister Haider alAbadi issued a directive for 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.