A STRONG 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck western Iran near the border with Iraq early yesterday, killing two people and injuring more than 200, officials said.

The shallow quake hit 26 kilometers southwest of the city of Javanrud in Kermanshah province, the U.S. Geological Survey said, near the site of a powerful quake last year that killed hundreds.

The head of the emergency department at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Saeb Sharidari, told state news agency IRNA that two people were killed and 241 injured, six critically.

Sharidari said the two dead were a pregnant woman and a 70-year-old man who suffered a heart attack.

IRNA quoted local officials saying that electricity had been cut to 70 villages but that it was restored to at least 50 by dawn.

The provincial head of the Red Crescent, Mohammad Reza Amirian, said there had been at least 21 aftershocks.

He said there were potential problems with drinking water due to damaged infrastructure in villages, but that it had not yet been necessary to distribute food and tents.

Kermanshah governor Houshang Bazvand told the Tasnim news agency that electricity had been temporarily cut to several villages. A crisis center was set up, with hospitals and relief organizations placed on alert. But the local director of crisis management, Reza Mahmoudian, told the Mehr news agency that “the situation was under control” and no request for help had been sent to neighboring provinces.(SD-Agencies)