Iran Hospitalized Quake-Hit Injured Turkish People

More than 10 people injured in the 7.2 magnitude earthquake in southeastern Turkey were transferred to Iran from the eastern Turkish city of Van through the Razi border crossing late on Sunday, IRNA reported.

West Azarbaijan Governor General Vahid Jalalzadeh announced that the Iranian province’s hospitals are prepared to accommodate injured Turkish citizens.

Jalalzadeh said that the earthquake has injured two people and caused damage to buildings in Chaldoran city in West Azarbaijan province, and people in the city and its vicinity have been left without electricity or phone access.

East Azarbaijan Governor General Jafar Zolfaqari said that the quake was also felt in Tabriz, about 200 kilometers east of the epicenter.

The devastating quake killed at least 200 people, while experts estimate that the death toll could top 1,000.

Earlier in the day, Iranian Red Crescent Society Director Mahmoud Mozaffar said the organization is ready to send assistance to the earthquake-stricken people of Turkey, adding, “We still do not have a report on the damage inflicted on Iranians living in border areas, but the Red Crescent is ready to send any humanitarian aid that Turkey requests.”

The epicenter of the earthquake was in the village of Tabanli in Van province.

Earlier, experts from Turkey’s main seismography center said that the death toll could top 1,000.

The Kandilli seismographic observatory made the estimate based on the strength of the quake and the architecture of structures in the area.

The earthquake also jolted buildings in neighboring Armenia and Iran. It is the strongest temblor to hit Turkey in almost a decade.

Sunday’s earthquake shook the ground furiously and left buildings in piles of twisted steel and blocks of concrete.

In 1999, about 100,000 people died in two powerful earthquakes that struck the northwestern part of Turkey.