On November 12, at 1:18 p.m., an earthquake hit 18 miles south of Halabja, Iraq on the Iraq and Iran border. The earthquake measured in at a 7.8 magnitude, and left thousands of people injured and hundreds more dead between the two countries.
According to ABC News and The New York Times, the death toll for Iran has risen to over 500. Over 7,400 people have been injured. Approximately 500 villages sustained damage from the event. At least 8 people were killed in Iraq and over 500 injured.
Many of the locations are more remote and harder to get aid to. The earthquake has displaced hundreds of people who are too scared to try to return home. Many people are without clean drinking water and have resorted to living in cold tents outside the disaster zone. Food, water and warm shelters are listed among the top priority for relief needs.
Despite search and rescue efforts coming to a close, relief operations are not expected to arrive for a while – potentially not for months. Some medical help is prepared to help including over 130 medical technicians. Iranians have been donating blood for those who need help.
After the earthquake that hit Mexico, approximately 391 people were reported killed. This makes the earthquake that hit Iraq and Iran significantly more deadly than Mexico. The earthquake was reportedly felt as far as in the countries of Pakistan and Turkey. It has been named the deadliest earthquake of 2017 by numerous sources. Seismologists in Iran have listed it as the biggest earthquake to hit the western part of the country.
Also on November 12, around 9:30 p.m., Costa Rica was hit with a 6.5 magnitude earthquake. The center of the quake hit approximately 13 miles west of Jaco, a coastal city. There have only been three people reported as dead. The earthquake was also felt in parts of Honduras and Panama.
A 5.2 aftershock also shook Costa Rica approximately four minutes after the initial hit. The overall aftermath of Costa Rica’s earthquake was not as damaging as the earthquake that hit Iran and Iraq. There are no reported infrastructure collapses in Costa Rica while hundreds of buildings have collapsed in Iran and Iraq.
For those looking to help either of these locations, you can donate to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The Red Crescent has already begun aid work in Iran and Iraq.
