Up to 87 people were killed and 400 injured as two strong earthquakes jolted northwest Iran yesterday, the head of the country’s emergency services told ISNA news agency.

“According to the latest reports, about 87 people have been killed in the quakes toda. About 400 have also been injured and were transported to Tabriz and Ardebil,” Gholamreza Masoumi said, referring to the biggest cities in the region and a neighbouring province.

The US Geological Survey, which monitors quakes worldwide, ranked them at 6.4 and 6.3, respectively.

“Our access to villages has been cut and we can only contact them by radio transceiver,” Mahmoud Mo­zaffar, head of Iran’s Rescue and Relief Organisation of the Red Crescent Society, told the Mehr news agency.

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