While the US Geological Survey placed the reading at magnitude 7.3, local meteorological officials put it at magnitude 6.5.

The epicentre has been deemed to be in Penjwin in Sulaimaniyah province in the Kurdistan region.

Iranian interior minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli told state TV, "The night has made it difficult for helicopters to fly to the affected areas and some roads are also cut off... we are worried about remote villages."

The deputy governor of Iran’s Kermanshah province, Mojtaba Nikkerdar, said that the death toll is expected to rise.

"There are still people under the rubble. We hope the number of dead and injured won’t rise too much, but it will rise," he said.