November
13, 2017, 12:59 pm
TEHRAN
-- A huge earthquake measuring 7.3 magnitude struck near the Iran-Iraq border
area on Sunday, killing 129 and injuring over thousands, according to Iran's
official media Monday.
The
quake's epicenter was located approximately 32 km south of the city of Halabja
in a remote mountainous region of eastern Iraq, some 200 km north-east of
Baghdad and 400 km west of Tehran, according to the United States Geological
Survey (USGS).
The
quake hit the area at 9:18 p.m. local time (0018 GMT), when many people would
have been at home, the US Geological Survey said.
At
least 14 provinces in Iran had been affected by the earthquake.
The
worst-hit towns in Iran were Ghasre Shirin in Kermanshah and Azgaleh, about 40
km northwest, Iran's state-run news agency IRNA said.
It
added that 30 Red Cross teams had been sent to the quake zone, parts of which
had experienced power cuts.
Iranian
President Hassan Rouhani in a phone call with the Interior Ministry emphasized
the need for maximum effort from officials.
The
governor's office said helicopters and sniffer dogs could only start working at
first light. It was expected there would be more casualties found under the rubble.
Iranian
social media was abuzz Sunday night with posts of people evacuating their
homes, particularly in Kermanshah and Ghasre Shirin.
Officials
announced that schools in Kermanshah and Ilam provinces would be closed Monday
because of the tremor.
In
Iraq, officials said the quake had killed six people in Sulaimaniyah province
and injured more than 150.
The
earthquake was felt in many Iraqi provinces in the north and central regions,
including the Iraqi capital Baghdad, witnesses said.
Most
casualties occurred in the town of Darbandikhan, some 35 km southeast of the
city of Sulaimaniyah.
People
were killed and injured by the damage of the houses, in addition to a landslide
in a mountain adjacent to the Darbandikhan Dam, local report said.
The
casualties in Darbandikhan could rise as some houses have collapsed and it is
not clear yet whether there were people buried under the debris, Nasih Mala
Hassan, mayor of Darbandikhan, was quoted as saying.
The
Iraqi Minister of Water Resources warned the people down the Darbandikhan Dam
to be in highest alert as the condition of the dam is not clear.
In
Erbil, the capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, dozens of people were
taken to hospitals.
Some
were treated from injuries and others fainted or shocked, said the online
newsite.
Many
of the injured in Erbil were students who live in dormitories, local health
department was quoted as saying.
Saad
Maan, spokesman of the Iraqi Interior Ministry, told reporters that cracks
appeared in some buildings in central Baghdad, while an old house was seriously
damaged.
In
Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, five people were wounded in the city of
Khanaqin, some 165 km northeast of Baghdad, due to the collapse of their houses
and shops, Head of the City Hall Samir Mohammed Noor told Xinhua.
Faris
al-Azzawi, head of Diyala's provincial health department, told Xinhua that some
140 people fainted due to the earthquake and were sent to hospital, but no
casualties were reported so far from the collapse of some houses and buildings.
Turkey's
Health Ministry offered aid for northern Iraq, the state-run Anadolu news
agency reported.
Other
aid agencies said they were on standby to help.
"Our
humanitarian team in Iraq is monitoring today's earthquake and is on standby to
respond," The International Rescue Committee (IRC) tweeted.
The
quake struck along a 1,500 km fault line between the Arabian and Eurasian
tectonic plates, a belt extending through western Iran and into northeastern
Iraq.
This
area sees frequent seismic activity. In 2013, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake
flattened the historic city of Bam, killing 26,000 people.
Since
then, Iran has experienced at least two major quake disasters, one in 2005 that
killed more than 600 and another in 2012 that left some 300 dead.
More
recently, a 5.7-magnitude earthquake near Iran's border with Turkmenistan in
May killed two people, injured hundreds and caused widespread damage. (Xinhua)
