On the night of November 12 local time, the border region between Iran and Iraq suffered a great destruction of earthquake. The earthquake has killed at least 300 people, injured 6000 and left 70000 homeless in these two countries.
Powerful earthquake killed and hurt thousands of people, the shaking was felt by surrounding nations.
At about 9 o’clock on November 12 local time, A above 7-magtitude powerful earthquake struck at the border region between Iran and Iraq, the epicenter was in the Halabja, Kurdish Autonomous Region, Iraq. The casualties were disastrous because most people were at home when the earthquake happened at night.
Up to the night of November 13, the earthquake had caused at least 348 deaths in Iran and Iraq, and more than 6000 people were injured. Most of the casualties occurred on the Iran side. In addition, the earthquake caused 70000 people homeless.
There were about 50 aftershocks after the strong earthquake. Turkey, Israel and Kuwait and other neighboring countries had felt the shaking. At least 14 provinces in Iran were affected by strong earthquakes.
The earthquake caused much panic, and the residents fled to the streets overnight. The shaking has also been obviously felt in Iraqi capital Baghdad , many people escaped from home. A resident in Baghdad said the building feels like "dancing in the air" during the earthquake. She also said that it was thought to be a bomb explosion in the beginning, and then she heard the people screaming "earthquake".
After the earthquake, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the top leader of Iran urged the rescue workers and government agencies to help the victims, and ordered the army to provide assistance to the stricken areas in the western part of the country. President Rouhani of Iran has also been briefed on the latest developments in the disaster areas and called for more aid to the victims.
Abadi, the Iraqi Prime Minister issued instructions to the national civil defense team and the relevant agencies , requesting to handle this disaster.