Deadly Earthquake Strikes Iraq

On November 12, 2017, the deadliest earthquake of the year devastated homes and businesses along the Iraq and Iran borders.

The 7.3 magnitude earthquake was officially the deadliest the world has experienced this year and said to be felt all the way in Turkey and Pakistan.

Officials say that around 530 people have been confirmed dead, and up to 8,000 citizens are said to have been injured. Most injuries and deaths were reported from Iran.

Over 200 aftershocks have been reported after the quake. Some of the tremors have reached up to a 4.8 and 4.9 magnitude.

The Arabian and Eurasian plates come to a fault line right underneath Iran, so the region has experienced many earthquakes in the past and is likely to experience many more in the future.

Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, wants to investigate why so many buildings built as part of the state programme collapsed. After visiting the area, he noticed that many of the buildings that were privately built survived the quake. He wants the issues with the buildings to be addressed and fixed.

Some Iranian athletes are auctioning their olympic medals to raise money for victims. Kianoush Rostami has put his olympic weightlifting gold medal up for auction along with paralympic gold medal winner Sareh Javanmardi to help the victims of this disastrous earthquake.

Many cities are left without power and many citizens choose to stay outside instead of in their homes in fear of aftershocks, despite freezing temperatures.

30 Red Cross teams were sent to help the Iranian Red Crescent clean up the quake zone following this disaster.

President Rouhani offered his condolences to the victims and their families by saying "I wholeheartedly sympathise with all the injured and the victims of this disaster, and ask the Almighty [for] mercy for those who lost their lives, swift recovery for the injured and patience and health for those fellow Iranians who lost their beloved one."