Earthquake in East Kurdistan

Kermanshah was hit by an earthquake.

Yet another earthquake has taken place in the province of Kermanshah in eastern Kurdistan.

The quake occurred about twelve kilometers northwest of the town of Serpêllî Zehaw (Sarpol-e Sahab) at a depth of ten kilometers, the provincial governor said on Iranian state television. The Geophysical Institute of Iran said an aftershock had a magnitude of 4.9. There are no reports of deaths so far, in the city, and the situation is under control.

The affected region, which borders South Kurdistan, has been repeatedly shaken by earthquakes in recent years. The recent earthquakes took place in Sumar in April, in Serpêllî Zehaw in November 2018 when more than 700 people were injured in an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4. Exactly one year before, Kermanshah had been hit by a severe earthquake. At that time, the quake reached a magnitude of 7.3, at least 630 people were killed, another 12,000 people were injured. It was the strongest earthquake in Iran in the last decade. Even more than a year and a half later, many people still have to live in makeshift camps and on the streets. The damage to hundreds of buildings has still not been resolved.