The Latest: Iran’s death toll from earthquake rises to 445

More than half of the casualties are from Kurdish-majority town of Sarpol-e Zahab in Kermansh province. The only hospital in the town was heavily damaged and the army set field hospitals.

The magnitude 7.3 quake was centred 19 miles (31 kilometres) outside the eastern Iraqi city of Halabja, according to the most recent measurements from the U.S. Geological Survey.

Iran’s government declared Tuesday as a national mourning day.

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6:15 p.m.

An Iranian disaster management official says Iran’s death toll from a powerful earthquake along the Iran-Iraq border has risen to 407.

Behnam Saeedi, a spokesman for the country’s crisis management headquarters, was quoted by the semi-official Fars and Tasnim news agencies on Monday. Saeedi says the number of injured in the 7.3 magnitude quake is now 6,700.

The quake was felt as far west as the Mediterranean coast. Iran’s western Kermanshah province, sitting in the Zagros Mountains that divide Iran and Iraq, was the hardest hit.

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5:15 p.m.

Pope Francis is offering prayers for the dead in Iran and Iraq following the powerful earthquake, and is urging strength to rescue crews trying to find survivors.

Francis sent two messages of condolences Monday via the Vatican’s secretary of state.

The notes said Francis was deeply saddened to learn of the disaster and offered his solidarity to those who had lost loved ones.

“Upon the injured and the emergency and civil authorities engaged in rescue and recovery efforts, His Holiness invokes the divine blessings of consolation and strength,” he added.

More than 350 people in both countries were killed in Sunday’s 7.3-magnitude temblor.

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3 p.m.

The powerful magnitude 7.3 earthquake that struck the Iraq-Iran borer area on Sunday night has also damaged the dam holding back the Diyala River in Iraq.

The dam’s director, Rahman Hani, has shown an Associated Press crew the damage to the dam, near the town of Darbandikhan in Iraq’s Sulaimaniyah province.

Hani says the dam, completed in 1961, is “the strongest built in the last one hundred years” but that there is now “very clear damage to the top of the dam.”

He says there are both “horizontal and vertical cracks on the road and in the body of the dam” and that parts of the dam have sunk lower.

It wasn’t immediately clear how the damage would impact power production. The last time the dam was renovated was in 2013.

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2:45 p.m.

Iran’s state-run news agency says the country’s death toll in the powerful earthquake along the Iran-Iraq border has risen to 341 people killed.

IRNA’s report on Monday afternoon also raised the number of injured, to 5,953.

President Hassan Rouhani is due to visit the areas damaged by the earthquake on Tuesday.

The magnitude 7.3 quake was centred 19 miles (31 kilometres) outside the eastern Iraqi city of Halabja, according to the most recent measurements from the U.S. Geological Survey.

The quake was felt as far west as the Mediterranean coast. Iran’s western Kermanshah province, sitting in the Zagros Mountains that divide Iran and Iraq, was the hardest hit. Residents in the rural area rely mainly on farming to make a living.

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12:20 p.m.

Turkey has dispatched emergency personnel and aid to northern Iraq following Sunday’s earthquake on the Iraq-Iran border as officials expressed their “deep sadness” at the tragedy.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said his country has taken immediate action to provide medical and food aid to northern Iraq. Kerem Kinik, Turkish Red Crescent’s vice-president, told The Associated Press from Habur border gate that 33 aid trucks were en route to Iraq’s city of Sulaimaniyah, carrying 3,000 tents and heaters, 10,000 beds and blankets as well as food.

The Turkish military says a cargo plane transporting aid and emergency personnel arrived in Iraq and Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency reported multiple dispatches by the country’s disaster agency.

The foreign ministry said in a statement the Turkish people stand with the Iranian and Iraqi people and is prepared to help Iran if requested.

Relations between Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region and Turkey were strained following the Iraqi Kurds’ controversial September independence referendum.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s government also extended its deepest condolences for the loss of life and injuries suffered by “our Iranian and Iraqi brethren.”

Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif says the Pakistanis’ “thoughts and prayers are with the Iranian and Iraqi brothers who lost their lives in this tragic calamity and we pray for the speedy recovery of the injured.”

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12 p.m.

Iran’s state-run news agency says the country’s death toll in the powerful earthquake on Iran-Iraq border has risen to 328 people killed.

IRNA’s report on Monday afternoon says the majority of those killed were from the town of Sarpol-e-Zahab in Iran’s western Kermanshah province.

The magnitude 7.3 quake was centred 19 miles (31 kilometres) outside the eastern Iraqi city of Halabja, according to the most recent measurements from the U.S. Geological Survey.

The quake was felt as far west as the Mediterranean coast. Iran’s western Kermanshah province sits in the Zagros Mountains that divide Iran and Iraq. Residents in the rural area rely mainly on farming to make a living.

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11:10 a.m.

Iran’ state TV has further raised the death toll from a powerful earthquake the previous night along the Iran-Iraq border, and reports that 214 people were killed and 2,504 injured in the temblor.

The Iranian Health Department is asking citizens to donate blood for the injured.

Monday’s TV report says that more than half of the casualties are from the town of Sar-Pol-Zahab and the district of Ezgeleh, which have a combined population of 30,000.

The only hospital in town was heavily damaged and the army has set up field hospitals to help those needing assistance. The TV says rescuers are trying to help those affected.

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10:15 a.m.

Iraq’s Interior Ministry says seven people were killed in Iraq as a result of last night’s earthquake along the Iran-Iraq border.

The temblor killed at least 207 on the Iranian side. That’s according to the latest report on Iranian state television.

In Iraq, the ministry’s spokesman, Brig. Gen. Saad Maan, said on Monday that 321 people were injured on the Iraqi side. Maan says all the casualties are in Iraq’s self-ruled northern Kurdish region.

The magnitude 7.3 quake was centred 19 miles (31 kilometres) outside the eastern Iraqi city of Halabja, according to the most recent measurements from the U.S. Geological Survey.

The quake could be felt across Iraq, shaking buildings and homes from Irbil to Baghdad and as far west as Anbar province.

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9:20 a.m.

Iranian state TV is now reporting that 200 people were killed and 1,686 injured in the earthquake along Iran-Iraq border.

Monday’s report says that rescuers are trying to help those affected.

The magnitude 7.3 quake was centred 19 miles (31 kilometres) outside the eastern Iraqi city of Halabja, according to the most recent measurements from the U.S. Geological Survey. It struck at a depth of 23.2 kilometres (14.4 miles), a shallow depth that can have broader damage.

The quake was felt as far west as the Mediterranean coast. Its worst damage appeared to be in Iran’s western Kermanshah province, which sits in the Zagros Mountains that divide Iran and Iraq. Residents in the rural area rely mainly on farming to make a living.

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8:30 a.m.

Iraq’s prime minister is seeking to reassure Iraqi civilians of their safety following an earthquake the previous night on Iraq’s northeastern border with Iran.

Haider al-Abadi says he is following the matter and issuing a directive for the country’s civil defence teams and “related institutions” to respond to the natural disaster. That’s according to a statement released by his office late Sunday night.

The quake could be felt across Iraq, shaking buildings and homes from Irbil to Baghdad and as far west as Anbar province.

Al-Abadi adds in his written statement: “God save Iraq and the Iraqi people.”

Iraqi has not yet released official casualty numbers, but local media have reported that six people have died and dozens have been injured in Iraq’s northeastern province, closest to the epicenter of the quake.

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6:30 a.m.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency says the death toll in the powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake along the borders of Iran and Iraq has risen above 140.

IRNA also said over 860 people were injured in the quake that shook the region Sunday.

The report Monday morning said 141 had been killed in cities and towns in the western Iranian province of Kermanshah.

It said rescuers worked through the night and the operations will be accelerated during the day Monday.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centred 19 miles (31 kilometres) outside the eastern Iraqi city of Halabja.

Iran sits on many major fault lines and is prone to quakes. In 2003, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake flattened the historic city of Bam, killing 26,000 people.

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3:20 a.m.

Iranian officials say the powerful magnitude 7.2 earthquake that hit the region along the border between Iran and Iraq on Sunday killed at least 61 people and injured 300 in Iran.

Iranian state TV also says that Iraqi officials have reported six deaths and 200 injuries inside Iraq, although there has not been any official confirmation from Iraq’s government. The TV report also says Iraqis reported more than 50 people injured in Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah province and about 150 were hurt in Khanaquin city

The U.S. Geological Survey saysdthe quake was centred 19 miles (31 kilometres) outside the eastern Iraqi city of Halabja.

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1:50 a.m.

An Iranian official says at least 30 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 200 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 centred around 19 miles (31 kilometres) outside the eastern Iraqi city of Halabja.

Iran’s semi-official Iranian ILNA news agency says at least 14 Iranian provinces were affected.

The Associated Press

by Canadian Press