At Least 530 Dead in Iran After Earthquake

The 7.3-magnitude quake rattled the border between Iran and Iraq on Sunday.

Iran's government has called off rescue efforts in the country's hardest-hit province following the deadliest earthquake so far this year, Reuters reports.

The 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck around the border of Iran and Iraq on Sunday, reportedly killing at least 530 people and injuring 7,460 in Iran alone. Meanwhile, Iraq's Interior Ministry announced that at least seven people were killed and 535 injured there.

The earthquake shook 14 of Iran's 31 provinces, but so far Kermanshah – an almost entirely Kurdish province in the Zagros Mountains – has suffered all of Iran's reported fatalities, with more feared dead in its rural villages, The Associated Press reports.

“The rescue operations in Kermanshah province have ended,” said Pir-Hossein Kolivand, head of Iran’s Emergency Medical Services, according to Reuters.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visited Kermanshah province Tuesday to assess the damage and offer his support to those affected.

"This was a pain for all Iranians," Rouhani said, according to a statement on the presidency's website. "Representing the nation of Iran, I offer my condolences to the people of Kermanshah, and tell them that all of us are behind Kermanshah."

The ripples from the quake were felt as far away as Turkey to the north and Qatar and Kuwait to the south, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.

The death toll has surpassed that of the 7.1-magnitude temblor that shook Mexico City in September and claimed the lives of at least 369 people.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2017-11-14/search-efforts-stopped-as-death-toll-from-iran-iraq-earthquake-rises