Border area quake kills more than 200
TEHRAN, Iran — A powerful earthquake shook the Iran-iraq border late Sunday, killing 207 people and injuring 1,686 in the mountainous region of Iran alone, Iranian state media said.
The Baghdad government did not give word on casualties in that country, though Prime Minister Haider al-abadi issued a directive for the country’s civil defense teams and “related institutions” to respond to the natural disaster.
The magnitude 7.3 quake was centered 19 miles outside the eastern Iraqi city of Halabja, according to the most recent measurements from the U.S. Geological Survey. It struck at a depth of 4.4 miles, a shallow depth that can have broader damage.
The quake was felt as far west as the Mediterranean coast. Its worst dam- age appeared to be in Iran’s western Kermanshah province, which sits in the Zagros Mountains that divide Iran and Iraq. Residents in the rural area rely mainly on farming to make a living.
Iraniansocialmediaandnews agencies showed images and videos of people fleeing their homes into the night. Some 50 aftershocks followed.
Iran’s state-run television said rescue work was continuing overnight and would accelerate during the daytime.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei offered his condolences on Monday morning and urged rescuers and all government agencies to do all they could to help those affected, state media reported.
The semi-official ILNA news agency said at least 14 provinces in Iran had been affected by the earthquake.
Iranian state TV also said Iraqi officials reported that at least six people dead inside Iraq, along with more than 50 people injured in Sulaymaniyah province and about 150 in the town of Khanaquin.
Iran sits on many major fault lines and is prone to near-daily quakes. In 2003, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake flattened the historic city of Bam, killing 26,000 people. The last major casualty earthquake in Iran struck in East Azerbaijan province in August 2012, killing over 300 people.