Deadly Quake Hits Iraqi-Iranian Borders, Dozens Killed, over 1,000 Wounded

An earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter Scale has hit northern part of Iraq near the border with Iran, killing dozens of people in the areas along the border.

According, to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the quake happened on Sunday, 103 kilometers (64 miles) southeast of the Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaymaniyah, it added.

According to Press TV, Iraqi officials has said that the quake killed over 30 people in Sulaimaniyah province and injured many more, but the figures will be updated. The head of Iran’s emergency organization has said that about 100 people have been killed and over 1,000 injured.

 “Four people were killed by the earthquake” in Darbandikhan, said the town’s mayor Nasseh Moulla Hassan. Another two people were killed in Kalar, according to the director of the hospital in the town about 70 kilometers south of Darbandikhan.

Kermanshah governor Houshang Bazvand earlier said that “six people were killed in Qasr-e Shirin and one in Azgaleh.”

According to reports, the quake and its aftershocks have been felt in many Iranian provinces, including Kordestan, Kermanshah, Ilam, Khuzestan, Hamedan, West Azarbaijan, East Azarbaijan, Lorestan, Tehran, Qazvin, Zanjan and Qom.

A number of aftershocks followed the seismic, including two 4.9- and 4-magnitude ones, which hit near Iraq’s border with Iran’s western Kermanshah Province.

The quake has been also felt in other regional countries such as Turkey, Kuwait, Armenia, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Bahrain.

According to National Disaster Management Organization of Iran, power cuts and disruption of the internet service have been reported in Kermanshah Province while houses in some western Iranian villages have been damaged to various degrees.

H.M