Iranians report scores killed, injured in quake

TEHRAN, Iran — A powerful magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit the region along the border between Iran and Iraq yesterday, killing at least 140 people and injuring 860 in Iran, an Iranian official said.

Earlier, Iranian state TV had said Iraqi officials had reported six deaths and 200 injuries inside Iraq, though there was no official comment from Iraq’s government.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered 19 miles outside the eastern Iraqi city of Halabja.

The Islamic Republic of Iran News Network quoted the head of the country’s emergency medical services, Pirhossein Koulivand, as saying early today that at least 140 had been killed and 860 injured on Iran’s side of the border.

Iranian state TV also said Iraqi officials reported at least six people dead inside Iraq, along with more than 50 people injured in Sulaymaniyah province and about 150 in Khanaquin city. No reports were immediately available from Iraq’s government.

Koulivand earlier told a local television station that the earthquake knocked out electricity in Iran’s western cities of Mehran and Ilam. He also said 35 rescue teams were providing assistance.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in a phone call with the Interior Ministry emphasized the need for maximum effort from officials.

Iranian social media was abuzz last night with posts of people evacuating their homes, particularly in Kermanshah and Ghasr-e Shirin.

The semi-official Iranian ILNA news agency said at least 14 provinces in Iran had been affected by the earthquake.

Also yesterday, an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.5 shook Costa Rica, knocking items from shelves and sending people rushing outside in panic. There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries in the Costa Rica quake, which was centered about 60 miles southwest of the capital of San Jose.