A rescue worker searches debris for survivors with his sniffing dog. Credit:ISNA/AP The quake was felt in several provinces of Iran but the hardest hit province was Kermanshah. More than 300 of the victims were in Sarpol-e Zahab county in that province, about 15 km from the Iraq border. The quake also triggered landslides that hindered rescue efforts, officials told state television. Relief workers said while much aid had been pledged, there was an immediate need for blankets, children's clothes, medicine and large cans to store drinking water. TV aired footage of some people weeping next to corpses shrouded in blankets. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei offered his condolences on Monday, urging all government agencies to do all they could to help those affected. State TV appealed for blood donations. The government announced one day mourning on Tuesday.

A car lays smashed by debris from the earthquake at the city of Sarpol-e-Zahab in western Iran. Credit:ISNA/AP Tempers frayed in the quake-hit area as the search went on for survivors amidst the twisted rubble of collapsed buildings. "We need a shelter," a middle-aged man in Sarpol-e Zahab told state TV. "Where is the aid? Where is the help?" His family could not spend another night outside in cold weather, he said. People look at destroyed buildings after an earthquake at the city of Sarpol-e-Zahab in western Iran. Credit:Pouria Pakizeh/ Iranian Students News Agency An Iraqi meteorology official put the quake's magnitude at 6.5, with the epicentre in Penjwin in Iraq's Sulaimaniyah province in the Kurdistan region, close to the main border crossing with Iran.

Kurdish health officials said at least six people were killed in Iraq and at least 68 injured, adding that in northern Iraq Kurdish districts seven were killed and 325 wounded. People stand in the street after feeling aftershocks in Baghdad, Iraq. Credit:AP Iran sits astride major fault lines and is prone to frequent tremors. A magnitude 6.6 quake on December 26, 2003, devastated the historic city of Bam, 1000 km southeast of Tehran, killing about 31,000 people. Electricity and water was cut off in several Iranian and Iraqi cities, and fears of aftershocks sent thousands of people in both countries out onto the streets and parks in cold weather. Reuters

x Iranians have spent the night digging through rubble in a frantic search for survivors after a powerful earthquake struck near the Iraqi border, killing more than 300 people and injuring thousands of others. At least 407 people were killed and nearly 6,000 people in Iran were injured, according to officials and news agencies, and hundreds of people waited in line to donate blood in Tehran in response to a call from the government. The epicentre of the quake was near Ezgeleh, Iran, about 217 kiloemtres northeast of Baghdad, and had a preliminary magnitude of 7.3, according to the US Geological Survey. Local officials said the death toll would rise as search and rescue teams reached remote areas of Iran. "There are still people under the rubble. We hope the number of dead and injured won't rise too much, but it will rise," Mojtaba Nikkerdar said

The earthquake was felt in several western provinces of Iran but the hardest hit province was Kermanshah, which announced three days of mourning. More than 236 of the victims were in Sarpol-e Zahab county in Kermanshah province, about 15 kilometres from the Iraq border. Electricity was cut off in several Iranian and Iraqi cities, and fears of aftershocks sent thousands of people in both countries out onto the streets and parks in cold weather. Iranian state television said the quake had caused heavy damage in some villages where houses were made of earthen bricks. Rescuers were labouring to find survivors trapped under collapsed buildings. The quake also triggered landslides that hindered rescue efforts, officials told state television. At least 14 provinces in Iran had been affected, Iranian media reported. "The night has made it difficult for helicopters to fly to the affected areas and some roads are also cut off... we are worried about remote villages," Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said in an interview on state television.

Farhad Tarji, a member of Parliament for Sarpol-e Zahab, told the semiofficial news agency ILNA that his family had been hit hard by the quake. "I've lost 15 people," he said. The Iranian government newspaper posted a video on its website in which a resident of Sarpol-e Zahab complained that no help had come. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei offered his condolences on Monday, urging all government agencies to do all they could to help those affected Meanwhile, a strong magnitude 6.5 quake struck the Pacific coast of Costa Rica near its capital city San Jose on Sunday night, but there were no initial reports of injuries or damage to infrastructure.

There was no Pacific-wide tsunami threat, the US National Weather Service said. Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis said authorities were gathering information and asked residents to remain calm and to be prepared for any possible aftershocks. A witness said the quake was felt very briefly in San Jose, but it was enough to startle residents. "We're very scared. It's been years since we felt such a strong one," said Otto Vargas, a university professor in San Jose. The quake hit in a rural area near the touristic city of Jaco, where there are few tall buildings.

Costa Rica's National Emergency Commission said it is monitoring the situation. Neighbouring El Salvador's civil protection agency tweeted that the quake caused some electrical posts to fall, while the civil protection agency in neighbouring Panama said there were no reports of damage there. The quake, initially measured as much as magnitude 6.8, was centered 69 kilometers south-west of San Jose at a depth of 20 kilometers, the US Geological Survey said. Reuters​, New York Times