
The death toll from the deadliest earthquake in Iran and Iraq has risen to more than 450, leaving more than 7000 people injured, according to media reports.
Several homeless victims of the powerful earthquake were gathered on a cold night on Monday, state TV said.
Representative Photo (Reuters)
Search operations are being carried out for dozens of people still trapped under rubbles of collapsed houses in towns and villages in the mountainous area of the western province of Kermanshah that borders Iraq.
The earthquake which happened on Sunday was felt as faraway as Turkey and Pakistan, according to reports.
Representative Photo (Reuters)
The epicenter was near Ezgeleh, Iran, about 135 miles northeast of Baghdad, and had a preliminary magnitude of 7.3. Seismologists in the country said it was the biggest quake to hit the western part of Iran, reports said.
At least eight people were killed on the Iraqi side of the border, according to Dr. Saif al-Badir, a spokesman for the Health Ministry, and at least 535 were hurt.
Representative Photo (Reuters)
Relief workers informed that proper aid was provided timely, however, there was a major shortage of blankets, children's clothes, medicine and large cans to store drinking water.
A local official said aftershocks hindered the process of setting up camps and tents for the homeless victims, but electricity had been restored in most of the quake-stricken areas.
"The main problem is sheltering people in this cold weather. We need more tents," Qasr-e Shririn governor Faramarz Akbari told TV.