RNA - According to Rasa News Agency, Sheikh Ammar al-Hakim, head of Iraq’s national coalition called on Iraqi authorities to take necessary measures to reduce the number of casualties and financial losses caused by earthquake.
In a statement, Sheikh Hakim thanked “the Lord for his grace for the people of Iraq”, and expressed his “sincere condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones in result of the incident and the victims of the earthquake in various parts of Iraq and especially in the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
He emphasized the necessity of “implementing necessary measures to reduce the number of casualties” adding: “We need to be prepared for such incidents. Relevant institutes should work hard on this issue and get prepared for similar incidents for the coming years. We shouldn’t be surprised and passive about such incidents.”
A powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake has hit the border region between Iran and Iraq, killing about 450 people, almost all of them in Iran.
The epicenter of the quake, which occurred at around 09:18 pm local time on Sunday (0010 GMT on Monday), was 32 kilometers south of the Iraqi city of Halabja, in Iraqi Kurdistan, and just across the border from Iran, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).