An Iranian official says at least 61 people died in Iran when a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit near the Iran-Iraq border region. Deputy Gov. Mojtaba Nikkerdar of Iran's Kermanshah province also says more than 300 people suffered injuries.
Iranian TV says Iraqi officials have reported at least six people dead on Iraq's side of the border from Sunday's quake. It says the officials also report more than 50 people were injured in Iraq's Sulaymaniyah province and about 150 were hurt in Khanaquin city. There has been no official report from Iraq's government.
The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake was centered around 19 miles outside the eastern Iraqi city of Halabja.
Iran's semi-official Iranian ILNA news agency says at least 14 Iranian provinces were affected.
Pirhossein Koulivand, head of Iran’s emergency medical services, told a local television station that the earthquake led to a power outage in the country’s western cities of Mehran and Ilam.
He also said 35 rescue teams were providing assistance.
Iranian social media was abuzz Sunday night with posts of people evacuating their homes, particularly in Kermanshah and Ghasr-e Shirin, where injured people were thought to be buried under the rubble.
Iran sits on many major fault lines and is prone to near-daily quakes. In 2003, a 6.6 magnitude flattened the historic city of Bam, killing 26,000 people.
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