Written by Staff Writer in News, Asia; Harriet, CNN
More than 1,500 aftershocks have been recorded in southern Iran since an earthquake struck near the border with Iraq on Wednesday, officials say.
Iran’s Red Crescent said it had received 464 requests for assistance in the eastern Iranian province of Kermanshah, where the quake registered magnitude 7.3. It was strong enough to be felt as far as Baghdad.
Ten people have died, officials said Thursday. More than 500 others were injured, although injuries were less severe in northern Iraq, where the quake was registered at magnitude 6.3.
Three people died in northern Iraq’s Khazer district, and 48 were injured, the International Organization for Migration reported. The six others died in the town of Tal Afar in the country’s northwest, according to IOM.
And in Iraq’s western Diyala province, an elderly man was killed in his home on Wednesday as a result of the quake, according to Jawad Rasool, head of the Diyala local administration, who told reporters the man had been sleeping in his room when it collapsed.
Iran’s earthquake toll stands at 47. The people who died there were all male, Tehran governor Morteza Tamaddon said on state TV.
Though the official death toll remains at 47, Iranian media outlets have reported more.
Iran’s Iran-Iraq border runs through Kermanshah province, a rural, mountainous region that contains Kurdish and Arab tribes, and much of the land is mountainous. Parts of Kermanshah are directly under the influence of Turkey, which is about 100 kilometers (62 miles) to the east.
Tuesday’s earthquake was Iran’s deadliest since 1953, when it was devastated by the last major earthquake in the country.
The intense tremors rattled northern Iran, which has been hit by several earthquakes in recent months.
The country suffered a magnitude 6.6 earthquake in November 2015, which left more than 450 people dead and nearly 10,000 others injured. Two further smaller quakes that struck in May and July affected about 200 people each, authorities said.