Death toll in Iran-Iraq earthquake climbs to at least 530

Death toll in Iran-Iraq earthquake climbs to at least 530

Jane Onyanga-Omara, USA TODAY Published 7:34 a.m. ET Nov. 14, 2017 | Updated 8:45 a.m. ET Nov. 14, 2017

Iranian state media reported Tuesday that the earthquake near the Iran-Iraq border killed killed 430 people in Iran and injured 7,460. Crews are digging through the rubble in Kurdish town of Sarpol-e-Zahab searching for victims and survivors. (Nov. 14) AP
Rescuers searched the rubble of toppled buildings for bodies Tuesday, as the death toll from a powerful earthquake that struck a border region between Iran and Iraq climbed to at least 530.
The province of Kermanshah in western Iran was hardest-hit by Sunday's magnitude-7.3 earthquake. All of Iran’s fatalities occurred there. Seven people died in Iraq.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported the new death toll Tuesday and said 7,460 people were injured.
Rescuers and local residents stood on top of the ruins of apartment complexes in the Kurdish town of Sarpol-e-Zahab in Kermanshah, searching for bodies and carrying them away with blankets.
More: Iran and Iraq reel after devastating earthquake kills more than 400
Casualties were taken to cities including the capital Tehran as the army set up field hospitals in Sarpol-e-Zahab. The local hospital was badly damaged.
Newly-homeless quake victims slept outside and huddled around makeshift fires for warmth.
Mohammad Ali Monshizadeh, a spokesman for Kermanshah's forensic department, said as many as 150 people could have been buried by their relatives in remote villages and were not included in the official death toll, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

Powerful earthquake kills hundreds in Iraq-Iran border region

Iranian victims of the earthquake stand around damaged buildings in the city of Pole-Zahab in Kermanshah province, Iran, Nov. 13, 2017. According to media reports quoting Iranian officials, a powerful magnitude-7.2 earthquake hit the region along the border between Iran and Iraq on Nov. 12, killing at least 129 people and injuring over 300. Abedin Taherkenareh, EPA-EFE

Fullscreen