Hundreds die after earthquake strikes Iran-Iraq border

A 7.3 magnitude earthquake that shook the northern border region between Iran and Iraq on Sunday killed more than 350 people and injured thousands of others. Iran’s state television confirmed the casualties Monday and said rescue workers continued to struggle to reach and assist survivors. The news agency reported more than 340 people died in Iran and at least seven died in Iraq. More than 5,000 others sustained injuries. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered 19 miles outside the eastern Iraqi city of Halabja. The earthquake cut off power in several cities in both countries, and fear of aftershocks drove thousands of people into the streets despite the cold weather. Iran’s seismological center on Sunday registered more than 100 aftershocks. The temblor hit the country’s Kermanshah province hardest: More than 236 people died in one of the province’s towns. Iran’s Red Crescent said more than 70,000 people need emergency shelter. Iraqi residents felt the tremors in the capital city of Baghdad, in Erbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdish region, and as far west as Anbar province. “I was sitting with my kids having dinner and suddenly the building was just dancing in the air,” Majid Ameer told Reuters after she ran out of her building in Baghdad’s Salihiya district. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi issued a directive for civil defense teams and other “related institutions” to respond to the disaster.