At least 141 people have been killed and 866 injured in an earthquake near the Iran-Iraq border late Sunday.
The 7.3-magnitude quake, at 9:48 pm local time, was centered 32 km (19 miles) southwest of the Iraqi city of Halabja. Vibrations were felt from Turkey to Kuwait. Officials said most of the casualties inside Iran were in Kermanshah Province in western Iran.
It is unclear if the reported toll from Iranian media includes people on the Iraqi side. News agencies reported several dead and dozens injured in Iraq, mostly in Kurdistan.
The figures are expected to rise as rescuers began work at dawn on Monday.
Officials said the Iranian border town of Ghasre Shirin was heavily damaged. Mojtaba Nikkerdar, the deputy governor of Kermanshah Province, said there were deaths in at least 30 separate villages.
Iraqi news agencies showed photos of crumbled buildings around the city of Sulaimaniyah in Kurdistan, reported at least 50 people injured in the town of Darbandikhan.
Lying on faultlines, Iran is often hit by damaging earthquakes. In 2003, a 6.6-magnitude quake destroyed the historic city of Bam, killing 26,000 people.
Footage from Iraqi Kurdistan:
