Over 170 hurt in magnitude 6.3 earthquake in western Iran

TIL Desk/World/Tehran/ A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck western Iran near its border with Iraq on Sunday night, injuring over 170 people and sending fearful residents running into the street, authorities said. The temblor hit near Sarpol-e Zahab in Iran’s Kermanshah province, which was the epicenter of an earthquake last year that killed over 600 people and where some still remain homeless.

Morteza Salimi of Iran’s Red Crescent told Iranian state television that 171 people were injured, most of them slightly. Kermanshah provincial Gov. Houshang Bazvand similarly said there were injuries, but few people hospitalized. Authorities said six rescue teams were immediately deployed after the quake stopped and the country’s army and its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard were responding.

Officials reported damage at buildings both in town and in rural Kermanshah, as well as to some roadways. The temblor also downed powerlines and caused power outages into the night as temperatures hovered around 8 degrees Celsius (46 degrees Fahrenheit). The quake struck just after 8 pm in Iran, meaning most were still awake at the time and able to quickly flee.