Hundreds killed in Iraq-Iran earthquake felt in UAE
Hundreds killed in Iraq-Iran earthquake felt in UAE
Death toll rises sharply as 7.2 magnitude tremor is felt across Middle East, sending residents running into streets
Published: 07:59 November 13, 2017Reuters
Tehran: The Iran death toll from an earthquake felt in the UAE has risen above 140, with more than 860 injured, according to Iranian officials.
The tremor in the Iraq-Iran border region was of magnitude 7.2 and struck 103km southeast of the city of Sulaymaniyah, the US Geological Survey said. http://gulfnews.com/polopoly_fs/1.21...3929397161.jpgA map showing the powerful quake's epicentre.
Read more: Strong quakes hit Japan, Costa Rica
Iran's state-run news agency reported over 140 killed, 860 injured in the earthquake.
Footage posted on Twitter showed panicked people fleeing a building in Sulaimaniyah, northern Iraq, as windows shattered at the moment the quake struck late Sunday,
Images from the nearby town of Darbandikhan showed major walls and concrete structures had collapsed.
It was felt in the UAE, according to social media users.
Footage posted on Facebook by Gulf News reader Syed Kazim Raza showed residents on the streets in Al Qusais 2 after the tremors were felt.
Watch the footage here:
Social media users said the quake was felt in Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, Israel, UAE, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
The U.S. Geological Survey issued an "orange" alert for "shaking-related fatalities and economic losses."
Iranian provinces in the northwestern, western and central areas of the country were impacted.
Iranian social media was abuzz with area people evacuating their homes.
Another Gulf News readers, Mohammad Majeed, took this video of Kuwait residents gathered outside their homes after feeling the aftershocks:
Many residents in the Iraqi capital Baghdad rushed out of houses and tall buildings in panic.
“I was sitting with my kids having dinner and suddenly the building was just dancing in the air,” said Majida Ameer, who ran out of her building in the capital’s Salihiya district with her three children. “I thought at first that it was a huge bomb.
But then I heard everyone around me screaming ‘Earthquake!’” There were similar scenes in Erbil, the capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region, and across other cities in northern Iraq, close to the quake’s epicentre.
Iraq’s meteorology center advised people to stay away from buildings and not to use elevators, in case of aftershocks.
The quake was even felt in the Iranian capital Tehran, with some villages hit by power cuts, Iranian state TV reported.
“The quake was felt in several Iranian provinces bordering Iraq ... Eight villages were damaged ... Electricity has been cut in some villages and rescue teams have been dispatched to those areas,” TV reported.
Residents of Turkey’s southeastern city of Diyarbakir also reported feeling a strong tremor, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties in the city.
Israeli media said the quake was felt in many parts of Israel too.
Strong quakes in Costa Rica and Japan
Meanwhile, a 6.5 magnitude quake struck the Pacific coast of Costa Rica near the capital, San Jose, on Sunday night, while another tremor measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale hit off the coast of Japan late on Sunday, the US Geological Survey said.
There was no Pacific-wide tsunami threat, the US National Weather Service said.
http://gulfnews.com/polopoly_fs/1.21...4039436377.jpgA 6.5 magnitude quake struck the Pacific coast of Costa Rica near the capital, San Jose, on Sunday night.
The quake in Costa Rica, initially measured as much as 6.8 magnitude, was centered 43 miles (69 km) southwest of San Jose at a depth of 12.3 miles (20 km), the USGS said.
Meanwhile, a huge 5.8 magnitude earthquake has stuck of the east coast of the Japan, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
http://gulfnews.com/polopoly_fs/1.21...3713833183.jpgA map showing the epicentre of the quake in the Pacific Ocean.
The quake hit 218 miles (351 km) east of Sendai, Honshu, at a depth of 5.9 miles (9.5 km).
The USGS initially recorded the quake as having a 6.1 magnitude but this was later downgraded to a 5.8.
It is unclear yet if there was any damage to villages and towns on the east coast. It is understood the earthquake has not triggered a tsunami warning.
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