Death toll hits 450 after powerful quake rocks Iran and Iraq as aid workers rush to help survivors
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei offered his condolences on Monday morning and urged rescuers and government agencies to do all they could to help those affected
A powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake near the Iraq-Iran border killed at least 450 people across both countries, sent residents fleeing their homes into the night and was felt as far away as the Mediterranean coast in the deadliest tremor in more than a decade, authorities said on Monday.
Iran’s western Kermanshah province bore the brunt of the temblor Sunday night, with authorities saying the quake killed scores of people in the country and injured 7,000. 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 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 1,000km away.
The earthquake struck 23.2km 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.