Iran ready to send rescue teams to quake-hit region of Turkey

The head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society said Sunday that Iran is ready to send rescue teams to the quake-hit province of Turkey, the official IRNA news agency reported. Mahmoud Mozaffar told IRNA that Sunday's strong earthquake in Turkey caused no casualties in Iran's northwestern region. The 7.2-magnitude tremor in Turkey was felt in the northwestern Iranian provinces of West Azerbaijan and East Azerbaijan on Sunday afternoon. The quake in the southeastern Turkish province of Van was also felt in the northwestern Iranian cities of Urmia, Khoy, Salmas, Makou and Tabriz at 2:12 p.m. local time (1042 GMT), local residents told Xinhua. The state IRIB TV website said the Turkish earthquake caused damage to the buildings in the Chaldran city in West Azerbaijan bordering Turkey. Telephone communication was cut off in Chaldran and its vicinity, said the report. West Azerbaijan Governor General said earlier that two people were briefly injured in Chaldran, according to local Mhr news agency. Vahid Jalalzadeh told Mehr that due to the quake some power lines in Chaldran were damaged but they were immediately repaired. An exact assessment on damage the quake caused to Iran's border villages will be released in the coming days, Jalalzadeh was quoted as saying.