Over 61 Dead, 300 Injured After Huge Quake Strikes Iran-Iraq Border

Update: AP reports that Iranian officials raise death toll to at least 61, more than 300 injured during earthquake on Iran-Iraq border region.

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— Rudaw (@Rudawkurdish) November 12, 2017

Iranian state TV said Iraqi officials had reported six deaths and 200 injuries inside Iraq, though there was no official comment from Iraq’s government.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered 19 miles (31 kilometers) outside the eastern Iraqi city of Halabja.

The Islamic Republic of Iran News Network quoted the head of the country’s emergency medical services, Pirhossein Koulivand, as saying at least 61 had been killed and 300 injured on Iran’s side of the border.

Iranian state TV also said Iraqi officials reported at least six people dead inside Iraq, along with more than 50 people injured in Sulaymaniyah province and about 150 in Khanaquin city. No reports were immediately available from Iraq’s government.

Koulivand earlier told a local television station that the earthquake knocked out electricity in Iran’s western cities of Mehran and Ilam. He also said 35 rescue teams were providing assistance.

The semi-official Iranian ILNA news agency said at least 14 provinces in Iran had been affected by the earthquake.

#Urgent Call; there are over 500 injured people& deaths recorded.Urgent medical assistance; Medical First aid kits & surgical equipment & medicine, medical teams are needed to support the local hospitals to treat the injured civilians in #Slemani governorate; #KRI Earthquake pic.twitter.com/F03LuoPYRB

— JCC_KRG (@JccKrg) November 12, 2017

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Update: Iranian Student News Association (ISNA) reports that officials are saying “so far, 30 people were killed and 200 people injured with more expected to be added to this number as first responders being excavation to fix the problem, we are delivering water and electricity to the people.”

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As we detailed earlier, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake just struck near the Iran-Iraq border (in Iraq, southeast of the city of As-Sulaymaniyah, according to US Geological Survey). Initial reports of damage in Baghdad and that the tremor was felt in Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.

Prelim M7.2 earthquake Iran-Iraq border region Nov-12 18:18 UTC, updates https://t.co/QIaZuvWNXu

— USGS Big Quakes (@USGSBigQuakes) November 12, 2017

M7.6 #earthquake (#?????) strikes 204 km NE of #Baghdad (#Iraq) 15 min ago. Effects reported by witnesses: pic.twitter.com/tUrMJAxI3f

— EMSC (@LastQuake) November 12, 2017

Eye witnesses recount:

“Terrible… Extremely horrible”

“The swaying was significant, I stood up and tried to get to a doorway and stumbled a little bit. It lasted nearly 5 minutes with the first 2 minutes being the strongest.”

#breaking #erbil the earth quake felt across #iraq pic.twitter.com/NxqwMu67zT

— Steven nabil (@thestevennabil) November 12, 2017

Moments after the quake strikes Erbil people are rushing into the streets…

Moments quake strikes #Erbil, people rushing into streets. pic.twitter.com/aOhDQWBnIP

— Rekar Aziz (@Rekarricci) November 12, 2017

Everyone is standing outside in Kuwait…

#Earthquake in #kuwait. Everyone is standing outside. pic.twitter.com/WolwXLvzh3

— Imran Rafiq (@imranbird) November 12, 2017

Developing story…