Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands injured in Iran and Iraq, according to early estimates by local officials, after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck the region on Sunday.
13 November 2017
The death toll from the earthquake in western Iran has jumped to 407 people, with over 6,700 others injured, Iranian Press TV reports.
Iran now says that 328 have died in the earthquake, local news agencies and state TV report, citing the National Disaster Management Organization.
New data provided by Tasnim now indicates that at least 211 people have been killed and over 2,500 injured in the earthquake in Iran, according to officials from Kermanshah province.
The death toll from the quake in Iran has risen to 164, with over 1,600 injured, Tasnim News Agency reports, citing Behnam Saeedi, a spokesman from the Iranian Disaster Management Organization.
People in quake-affected areas must refrain from entering damaged buildings, Iranian authorities have warned.
The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, conveyed his condolences to the Iranian people, assuring that all civilian and military organization are helping with the rescue effort, ISNA reported.
The deputy governor of Kermanshah province said his region faces a "shortage of physicians," saying, that those who needed surgery will have to be transferred to the regional capital, ILNA reported.
Three days of general mourning has been announced in Iran's Kermanshah province.
The deputy director of Iran's crisis management unit said at least 141 people have been killed and some 866 injured since the earthquake struck, Iranian news outlets report.
A medical student from Erbil, studying in Iraqi Kurdistan, recalled that she and her classmates were "scared" when the quake struck.
"Everyone is scared... Some of our friends fainted because of the earthquake," she said, standing outside the dorms. "We are all scared to go in. The whole building was trembling out of the ordinary," the student told RT's Ruptly video agency.
"Except for Sarpol-e Zahab, the rest of the cities have electricity," an ILNA correspondent reported from the earthquake-struck region of Iran.
Authorities hope to restore power by the afternoon after the city's grid suffered "serious damage." Amid the interruptions in the water supply, authorities began distributing bottled water in Sarpol-e Zahab and Qasr-e Shirin, the report added.
A total of 737 people are engaged in relief operations in Iran, Head of the Relief and Rescue Organization of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS), Morteza Salimi, told FARS news.
At least 129 people were killed in the earthquake in Iran's Kermanshah province, the deputy governor of the region announced, adding, that "around 300 people" have so far been injured, INSA reports.
Iran's Interior Minister announced that facilities and equipment are being transported as quickly as possible from neighboring provinces to the stricken areas. The supplies include tents, food, and medicine.
"We ask the Revolutionary Guards and the army to create a desert hospital as soon as possible and distribute [aid and supplies] in the quake-stricken areas," Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli was quoted as saying by FARS news.
Another 4.5 magnitude aftershock was registered 12km northwest of Sarpol-e Zahab, Iran. The quake was recorded at a depth of 45.5 km, according to USGS.
The problem of polluted drinking water was resolved in Kermanshah province, the governor of the regions told FARS, adding that the electricity supply, however, has not yet been fully restored.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as well as army units, are assisting the Red Crescent with search and rescue efforts, the governor added. Emergency tents are now being set up for those people whose homes were damaged or destroyed.
The Darbandikhan Dam on the Diyala River, located in the northern Sulaymaniyah Governorate of Iraq, suffered some damage from the quake, the head of Iraq’s Water Resource Management, Hassan Janani, told reporters. Rocks fell on the structure while some houses next to the dam collapsed, according to the initial assessment. Janani called on those living downstream from the dam to "take caution, and stay away" from the dam.
The head of Iran's Health Ministry, Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi, urged the country's hospitals to urgently dispatch medical staff, equipment, ambulances and blood supplies to the treatment centers in the earthquake-stricken areas, the ISNA news agency reported.
Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag announced, as reported by the Anadolu agency. A total of 3,000 tents, 3,000 blankets and a food rig were “immediately” sent to Iraq’s north. Another 4,000 blankets were sent from Turkey’s southeastern provinces of Mus and Diyarbakir to the Habur border gate.
Deputy Prime Minister Recep Akdag told 24 TV that a paramedic and rescue teams would soon be dispatched to the disaster area.
The Iranian Red Crescent started erecting tent camps to help people affected by the quake.
12 November 2017
The death toll from the earthquake has risen to over 80 people, and that is only in Iran. At least 71 people were killed in Sarpol-e Zahab, while at least ten others died in Salas-e Babajani, according to emergency services figures. More than 1,000 people are believed to be injured, FARS reports.
Kuwait's Fire Service Directorate received over 40 distress calls from people who felt the earthquake in the Gulf country. The natural disaster caused no casualties or damage in Kuwait, according to the government information agency, KUNA.
No injuries or damages were reported in Israel where a massive tremor was felt across parts of the country, Israeli media report.
The central hospital in the town of Sarpol-e Zahab in Kermanshah Province, Iran, close to the Iraqi border, was severely damaged in the earthquake. The medical facility has no electricity, FARS news reports.
The preliminary death toll from the earthquake in Iran’s Kermanshah Province has risen to 61, according to an emergency services official.
“Our rapid reaction teams are deployed in the region," the official told ISNA, adding that a plane would also be on standby to transfer those injured to Tehran, if necessary.
At least 30 people were killed and over 200 killed in Iran's Kermanshah province alone, according to the local deputy governor, but the exact number of casualties is yet to be determined.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has tasked the country's Interior Ministry with addressing “as soon as possible the needs of residents of the country's western areas, affected by the earthquake,” his press service said.
More than 500 people may have been injured by the quake, the Kurdistan Regional Government's Joint Crisis Coordination Center (JCC) said on Twitter, and that there's an "urgent" need for medical teams to support local hospitals treating the injured.
A 4.5 magnitude aftershock struck Kermanshah Province in Iran, USGS reported. The jolt was registered at a depth of 10 kilometers, just 6 kilometers northwest of Sarpol-e Zahab, Iran.
Footage has emerged of the moment shockwaves swept through parts of Iraq and Iran after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck the area Sunday.
READ MORE: Moment deadly earthquake rocked Iraq & Iran caught on VIDEO
In the Iraqi Kurdistan region, according to the Kurdish health minister. At least 50 people were injured in the town of Darbandikhan in Sulaymaniyah province alone, spokesperson for the suburban districts, Iqbal Mohammed, told Rudaw.
The epicenter of the quake was located some 25 km below the surface, according to the USGS. The earthquake was initially reported by the USGS as being of 7.2 magnitude.
A 7.3 magnitude earthquake has struck on the border of Iran and Iraq.