The FINANCIAL — Iranian officials say at least 207 people have been killed and about 1,700 others injured in a devastating earthquake near the Iran-Iraq border.
Iran’s Interior Ministry said earlier on November 13 that most of the casualties were in Kermanshah Province, with residents reporting feeling the 7.3 magnitude quake throughout the region, from Turkey to Kuwait.
In Iraq, officials said at least seven people were killed and more than 320 others injured on the Iraqi side as a result of the quake, according to RFE/RL.
Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan said that all the casualties were in the northern Kurdish region.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered 32 kilometers southwest of the city of Halabja in northeastern Iraq at a depth of 33.9 kilometers.
Tehran University’s seismological center said the temblor hit at 9:48 p.m. local time on November 12.
Iran’s official IRNA news agency quoted officials as warning that the casualty toll was expected to rise as emergency workers began work at first light on November 13.
The governor’s office in Kermanshah Province said helicopters and sniffer dogs were in place but could only start operations at first light.
The town of Sarpol-e Zahab, about 15 kilometers from the Iraq border, was one of the hardest hit, with dozens of people killed, the reports said.
Officials said the Iranian border town of Ghasre Shirin was heavily damaged, with rescue workers reporting that their efforts were being made difficult because of power outages.
Mojtaba Nikkerdar, the provincial deputy governor, told state television there were deaths in at least 30 separate villages, but he said it would take hours before exact casualty numbers could be determined.
“There are still people under the rubble. We hope the number of dead and injured won’t rise too much, but it will rise,” Nikkerdar said.
IRNA said water and electricity had been cut in some parts of Kermanshah Province.
The semiofficial Iranian ILNA news agency reported that at least 14 provinces had been affected by the earthquake.
“The quake was felt in several Iranian provinces bordering Iraq…Eight villages were damaged…Electricity has been cut in some villages and rescue teams have been dispatched to those areas,” state TV reported.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on government agencies and rescuers to do all they could to help those affected, according to state media.
News agencies reported that Iranian President Hassan Rohani had called on the Interior Ministry to make a maximum effort to aid victims.
Iraqi news agencies showed photos of crumbled buildings in around the city of Sulaimaniya in the Kurdistan region, saying at least 50 people had been injured in the town of Darbandikhan.
The quake was felt in the Iranian capital, Tehran, and in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
Residents of southwest Turkey, Israel, and Kuwait also said they had felt the temblor.
Iran is on many major fault lines and is often hit by damaging earthquakes. In 2003, a 6.6-magnitude quake destroyed the historic city of Bam, killing 26,000 people.
With reporting by Reuters, AP, CNN, dpa, IRNA, Iraqi News, The New York Times, and ILNA
Discussion about this post