At least 400 people have died and more than 6,500 been injured in Iran after an earthquake shook the border region with Iraq, authorities said. In neighboring Iraq, officials confirmed eight people had died and more than 500 were injured.

The hardest-hit region was western Iran's Kermanshah province, which lies in the Zagros mountains dividing Iraq and Iran.

In the town of Sarpol-e Zahab in Kermanshah province, 15 kilometers (10 miles) from the Iraqi border, at least 236 were killed.

Iran's emergency services chief Pir Hossein Koolivand said it was "difficult to send rescue teams to the villages because the roads have been cut off... there have been landslides."

Most of the region is rugged mountain terrain populated by farmers, with many pictureque villages made out of earthen

bricks clinging to hillsides.

As daylight broke, the extent of the destruction became clearer as concern mounted about civilians trapped under rubble in remote villages in the area. Iranian officials said the death toll was likely to rise.

The Iranian government sent 30 Red Crescent teams to the quake zone, parts of which were without power. Three emergency relief camps were being set up by Iranian officials.

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Quake felt in across region

The Iraqi ministry of health said seven people had died and 321 taken to hospitals in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan. Four people reportedly died in the town of Darbandikhan and two — including a child and an elderly person — died in the town of Kalar, about 70 kilometers (45 miles) south of Darbandikhan.

In nearby Halabja, residents fled their homes and many slept outside out of fear of the earthquake and potential aftershocks, local teacher Warzer Ali told DW reporter Chase Winter via social media.

Residents in Sarpol-e Zahab huddle by an open fire after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck the Iran-Iraq border.

"Many people slept out in the street, others left the town and slept in fields," Ali said, adding that aftershocks were felt.

The Turkish Red Crescent and the national disaster response agency, AFAD, sent aid and rescue teams to the disaster area in Iraqi Kurdistan.

According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake had a 7.3 magnitude and hit at 9:18 p.m. local time (1818 UTC) around 30 kilometers (19 miles) southwest of Halabja. The quake was felt as far away as southeastern Turkey and Baghdad.

The area along the border of Iraq and Iran sees frequent seismic activity due to the 1,500 kilometer faultline between the Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates. In 2003, some 31,000 people were killed by a catastrophic tremor that struck the Iranian city of Bam.

Also late on Sunday, a strong quake struck near Costa Rica, killing at least two people.

When Mother Nature gets angry, really angry Most powerful earthquake ever recorded The most powerful earthquake ever recorded hit Chile's coast in May 1960. The quake, 9.5 on the Richter scale, lasted almost 10 minutes, resulting in massive infrastructure damage. Around 5,700 people were killed in Chile while the resulting tsunami left 130 people dead in Japan and another 61 in Hawaii. This picture shows the remains of Corral harbor in Chile's Valdivia province.

When Mother Nature gets angry, really angry Good Friday earthquake The 1964 Alaskan earthquake, also known as the Great Alaskan earthquake and Good Friday earthquake, remains the strongest earthquake to hit the US to date. It occured on Good Friday, March 27, across south-central Alaska. The quake and the following tsunamis caused about 139 deaths. The picture above is from a small fishing village on Kodiak Island and it shows debris from houses and boats.

When Mother Nature gets angry, really angry Most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan A team member from Japan's Rescue Dog Association and his dog search for victims. Northeastern Japan was struck by a devastating earthquake, measuring 9.1 on the moment magnitude scale, followed by a massive tsunami. The natural disasters claimed almost 18,500 lives, and crippled the Fukushima nuclear power plant, in what is considered the world's worst nuclear power disaster since Chernobyl.

When Mother Nature gets angry, really angry 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake The undersea megathrust earthquake, magnitude 9.1, triggered a series of devastating tsunamis, killing some 280,000 people in 14 different countries and inundating coastal communities with waves up to a 100 feet. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history.

When Mother Nature gets angry, really angry Kamchatka earthquake A megathrust earthquake occurred off the coast of Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Russia on November 4, 1952. The 9.0 magnitude quake caused a tsunami leading to widespread destruction and loss of life around the Kamchatka peninsula and the Kuril Islands. More than 2,300 people were killed.

When Mother Nature gets angry, really angry 2010 Chile earthquake An 8.8 magnitude earthquake occurred off the coast of central Chile in February 2010. It triggered a tsunami which devastated several coastal towns in south-central Chile and damaged the port at Talcahuano. The quake and the following tsunami resulted in the deaths of around 450 people, while damage to the local fisheries' business was estimated at 66.7 million US dollars.

When Mother Nature gets angry, really angry China 1976 quake An abandoned railway coach in Tangshan, China after an earthquake devastated the industrial town on July 28, 1976. The quake, measured at 7.4, struck near the industrial city in northeastern Hebei province. The official death toll is given as 242,000 but is believed to be significantly higher. Some estimates put the deathtoll at around 500,000.

When Mother Nature gets angry, really angry 1920 Haiyuan earthquake The earthquake, measured at 8.3, occurred in the Haiyuan county of the northern province of Ningxia and caused aftershocks for almost three years. As a result, up to 235,000 people died immediately. Many more, who were living in camps due to the continuing aftershocks, perished later due to severe winter conditions.

When Mother Nature gets angry, really angry 2010 Haiti earthquake A man walks amid the rubble of a destroyed building in Port-au-Prince following the devastating earthquake that rocked Haiti on January 12, 2010. With a magnitude of 7.0, the quake destroyed thousands of buildings and left at least 200,000 people dead. Author: Aasim Saleem



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