Two earthquakes struck northwest Iran near the Azerbaijan border, killing over 300 people and injuring thousands. The first 6.4 magnitude quake was followed by a 6.3 magnitude aftershock 11 minutes later. Simple mud brick homes in the sparsely populated region collapsed quickly, with at least 12 villages totally leveled and 425 others sustaining 50-80% damage. Iran experiences frequent destructive earthquakes due to major fault lines crossing over 90% of the country.