BAGHDAD: Iranian state television says the number of injured people from the last night's magnitude 6.3 earthquake in the country's west has reached more than 700.
The report Monday said most were immediately released from hospitals and suffered only slight injuries. There have been no reported fatalities from the temblor.
Sunday night's earthquake struck near Sarpol-e Zahab in Iran's Kermanshah province, which suffered half of the casualties from last year's quake and where some still remain homeless.
State television in Iran reported the quake. Authorities said six rescue teams were immediately deployed after the quake stopped.
Morteza Salimi of Iran's Red Crescent told state TV that since the area was reconstructed after the last year's quake, officials hope there won't be casualties.
The earthquake had a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), making it very shallow. Shallow earthquakes have broader damage.
The earthquake was felt in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, and various provinces in Iraq, according to reports.
Iran is located on major seismic faults and experiences an earthquake per day on average. In 2003, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake flattened the historic city of Bam in southern Iran, killing 26,000 people.
Last year's earthquake near Sarpol-e Zahab, a predominantly Kurdish town, had a magnitude of 7.3.
Casualty toll in Iran quake continues to soar
Casualty toll in Iran quake continues to soar
- Sunday night's earthquake struck near Sarpol-e Zahab in Iran's Kermanshah province
- The earthquake was felt in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, and various provinces in Iraq, according to reports
Israel agrees to ‘limited reopening’ of Rafah crossing: PM’s office
- The announcement came after visiting US envoys reportedly pressed Israeli officials to reopen the crossing, a vital entry point for aid into Gaza
JERUSALEM: Israel said Monday it would allow a “limited reopening” of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt once it had recovered the remains of the last hostage in the Palestinian territory.
The announcement came after visiting US envoys reportedly pressed Israeli officials to reopen the crossing, a vital entry point for aid into Gaza.
Reopening Rafah forms part of a Gaza truce framework announced by US President Donald Trump in October, but the crossing has remained closed after Israeli forces took control of it during the war.
The Israeli military also said it was searching a cemetery in the Gaza Strip on Sunday for the remains of the last hostage, Ran Gvili, a non-commissioned officer in the police’s elite Yassam unit.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the reopening would depend on “the return of all living hostages and a 100 percent effort by Hamas to locate and return all deceased hostages,” Netanyahu’s office said on X.
It said Israel’s military was “currently conducting a focused operation to exhaust all of the intelligence that has been gathered in the effort to locate and return” Gvili’s body.
“Upon completion of this operation, and in accordance with what has been agreed upon with the US, Israel will open the Rafah Crossing,” it said.
