More than 140 people have been killed and at least 860 believed to have been injured by tremors in Iran’s Kermanshah province, according to state media, after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Iraq near to the Iran border.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported the death toll, with rescuers said to be stepping up efforts to find dozens trapped under rubble in both countries.
State television quoted the head of the country’s emergency medical services, Pirhossein Koulivand, as saying that the earthquake knocked out electricity in Iran’s western cities of Mehran and Ilam. He also said 35 rescue teams were providing assistance.
Iran is prone to near daily quakes as it sits on many major fault lines. In 2003, a 6.6 magnitude flattened the historic city of Bam, killing 26,000 people. Many houses in rural parts of the province are made of mud bricks, which have been known to crumble easily in quake-prone Iran.
Follow TKG on Twitter & Facebook