Iran-Iraq earthquake kills over 340

At least 348 people were killed in Iran when a magnitude 7.3 earthquake jolted the region on Sunday, state television said, and rescuers were searching for dozens trapped under rubble in the mountainous area. 

At least seven have died in Iraq as well.

Iran's state television said at least 6,603 more were injured while local officials said the death toll would rise as search and rescue teams reached remote areas ofIran.

The earthquake was felt in several western provinces of Iran but the hardest hit province was Kermanshah, which announced three days of mourning. 

More than 230 of the victims were in Sarpol-e Zahab county in Kermanshah province, about 15 km from the Iraq border.

Iranian state television said the quake had caused heavy damage in some villages where houses were made of earthen bricks. Rescuers were labouring to find survivors trapped under collapsed buildings.

The quake also triggered landslides that hindered rescue efforts, officials told state television. 

At least 14 provinces in Iran had been affected, Iranian media reported.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei offered his condolences on Monday, urging all government agencies to do all they could to help those affected.

TRT World 's Kerry Alexandra reports.

At least six killed in Iraq

The US Geological Survey said the quake measured magnitude 7.3. An Iraqi meteorology official put its magnitude at 6.5 with the epicentre in Penjwin in Sulaimaniyah province close to the main border crossing with Iran.

Iraq's Interior Ministry said at least seven people were killed in Iraq and at least 535 injured. 

Iraq's health and local officials said the worst-hit area was Darbandikham district, near the border withIran, where at least 10 houses had collapsed and the district's only hospital was severely damaged.

The quake was felt as far south as Baghdad, where many residents rushed from their houses and tall buildings when tremors shook the Iraqi capital.

"I was sitting with my kids having dinner and suddenly the building was just dancing in the air," said Majida Ameer, who ran out of her building in the capital's Salihiya district with her three children. "I thought at first that it was a huge bomb. But then I heard everyone around me screaming: 'Earthquake!'"

Similar scenes unfolded in Erbil and across other cities in northern Iraq, close to the quake's epicentre.

Cold weather and aftershocks

Electricity was cut off in several Iranian and Iraqi cities, and fears of aftershocks sent thousands of people in both countries out onto the streets and parks in cold weather.

The Iranian seismological centre registered around 50 aftershocks and said more were expected.

The head of the Iranian Red Crescent said more than 70,000 people were in need of emergency shelter.

Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said some roads were blocked and were worried about casualties in remote villages. The Iranian armed forces have been deployed to help the emergency services.

An Iranian oil official said pipelines and refineries in the area remained intact.

Iran sits astride major fault lines and is prone to frequent tremors. A magnitude 6.6 quake on December 26, 2003, devastated the historic city of Bam, 1,000 km southeast of Tehran, killing about 31,000 people.

Hospital severely damaged

On the Iraqi side, the most extensive damage was in the town of Darbandikhan, 75 km east of the city of Sulaimaniyah in the semi-autonomous Kurdish Region.

More than 30 people were injured in the town, according to Kurdish Health Minister Rekawt Hama Rasheed.

"The situation there is very critical," Rasheed said.

The district's main hospital was severely damaged and had no power, Rasheed said, so the injured were taken to Sulaimaniyah for treatment. Homes and buildings had extensive structural damage, he said.

In Halabja, local officials said a 12-year-old boy died of an electric shock from a falling electric cable.

Iraq's meteorology centre advised people to stay away from buildings and not to use elevators, in case of aftershocks.

TRT World spoke to journalist Koshan Ali Khadir in Iraq for details.

Turkey sends aid

Residents of Turkey's southeastern city of Diyarbakir also reported feeling a strong tremor, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties in the city.

Turkish Red Crescent Chairman Kerem Kinik told broadcaster NTV that Red Crescent teams in Erbil were preparing to go to the site of the earthquake, and that Turkey’s national disaster management agency, AFAD, and National Medical Rescue Teams (UMKE) were also preparing to head into Iraq. AFAD’s chairman said the organisation was waiting for a reply to its offer for help.

In a tweet, Kinik said the Turkish Red Crescent was gathering 3,000 tents and heaters, 10,000 beds and blankets and moving them towards the Iraqi border.

"We are coordinating with Iranian and Iraqi Red Crescent groups. We are also getting prepared to make deliveries from our northern Iraq Erbil depot," he said.

Israeli media said the quake was felt in many parts of Israel as well.