Iran earthquake: 6.3 tremor strikes on Iraq border - 400 people injured
AN earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 has struck western Iran close to the border with Iraq, leaving at least 400 people injured.
Iran earthquake: Locals flood to streets after tremor
About 400 people were injured in the 6.3 magnitude quake on Sunday. But there have been no fatalities reported. The earthquake was at a depth of 65 kilometres (40 miles) and struck 114 km (70 miles) northwest of the city of Ilam.
Speaking to state television, Houshang Bazvand, governor of the western province of Kermanshah, said: "We have had 411 injured, 80 percent of whom have been treated and released. No fatalities have been reported.”
Rescue teams were immediately sent to the area.
There was minor damage to some buildings, according to state television.
The earthquake was felt in at at least seven provinces of Iran, most powerfully in Kermanshah province.
Pirhossein Koulivand, head of the state emergency services, said: "No reports of any fatalities yet and most of the injured were hurt while fleeing, not due to quake damage.”
Video footage and pictures following the earthquake show terrified residents gathering on the street.
The quake’s tremors were felt from as far away as Iraq’s capital Baghdad and in Erbil in the Kurdistan region, according to the Iraqi Geological Survey.
Iraq's interior ministry said no damage or casualties had been reported in Baghdad.
The quake was also felt in Kuwait and in coastal areas, according to state news agency Kuna.
Ali Moradi, head of Iran's seismology centre, said: "Fortunately, the quake was not near bigger cities.
“But it might have caused damage in villages and I hope not that many villages are located where it hit."
It comes a year after a deadly earthquake hit the area on November 12 2017, leaving hundreds of people dead and causing widespread damage.
At least 620 people were killed and thousands were injured in the quake which struck the western Kermanshah province.
And in 2003, a quake of a magnitude of 6.6 in Kerman province of Iran killed 31,000 people and flattened the historic city of Bam.