November 24, The Iran Project - A powerful earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale has hit the border region between Iran and Iraq on Nov 12 causing extensive material damage and loss of life in some western Iranian provinces, most notably in Kermanshah Province.

As the nation overcomes the first aftermath of this natural disaster, people rally to help their fellow compatriots affected by the trembler. Volunteer Iranians have mobilized along with aid agencies to provide help and supplies to those affected by a powerful earthquake in Iran's province of Kermanshah.

According to the latest figures, 445 people have been killed, mostly in the western province of Kermanshah and over 7,156 others have been injured.

Following the incident, the government announced one day of national mourning for victims of the deadly quake. On Sunday, three days of mourning had been announced in Kermanshah Province, which has borne the main brunt of the quake.

Iranian people have also mobilized in response to the natural disaster to help decrease the sufferings of their compatriots, with many donating blood and preparing aid packages.

Medals Auction

On Nov 15, two Iranian Olympics and Paralympics gold medal winners have auctioned their medals to raise money for the victims of Sunday's earthquake.

Olympic weightlifting champion Kianoush Rostami has put his gold medal up for auction on Tuesday and Paralympic Games gold medal winner in shooting Sareh Javanmardi announced �that she sells her medal to raise money for the victims.

The multiple top Iranian athletes and sports celebrities are planning to give back similarly to Rostami.

Artists Sympathy

Meanwhile, a number of domestic and international artists have expressed sympathy for the victims of the earthquake.

Iranian actor Navid Mohammad-Zadeh, who won the Best Actor award for his r�le in 'No Date, No Signature' at the 19th Bratislava International Film Festival from November 9-16 donated his award to the quake victims.

Well-known Iranian vocalist Shahram Nazeri and Kamkars Ensemble will hold a fundraising concert for the victims of the earthquake.

The Spanish singer and songwriter Enrique Iglesias and the South Korean actress Lee Young-ae are the most notable among the international artists expressing compassion through their social media pages.

Iglesias posted a message on his Instagram page on Tuesday, in which he wrote: "Everyone please send your love, thoughts and prayers to those suffering from the earthquake in Iran and Iraq."

Lee extended sympathy with both nations by expressing hope for the quick renovation of the hit regions in Iran. She further noted that she was depressed after hearing the news about beautiful Iran.

A large number of Iranian artists and famous figures, including actors Pejman Jamshidi, Ashkan Khatibi, Hamid Farrokh-Nejad, Rambod Javan, Mohammadreza Golzar, Mahnaz Afshar, Fariba Kosari and Leila Otadi, offered sympathies via their social media pages as well.

Charity Programs

The art community has also opened a charity programs for helping the quake-striken people.

Kourosh Cineplex in the west of Tehran has said it will donate 50% of its ticket sales to help the afflicted people. It is also trying to run a campaign to collect essentials and send them to the region.

Further, the ticket sales of the documentary �Bazm-e-Razm� (Drums of War), by Seyyed Vahid Hosseini, on Tuesday has also been allocated to help the people whose lives have been turned upside down by the killer quake.

Pars Cinema in Kerman in Kerman Province will also devote the revenues from 15 showings during November 13-18 to the afflicted people in west of Iran.

Until the end of the Iran�s Book Week all the sales of the Tehran-based Hod-Hod Bookstore located at Yousef Abad Street will be sent to support the victims of the natural disaster in Kermanshah.

The shop sells books published by the Institute for Research on the History of Children�s Literature, which is a non-governmental and non-profit organization founded in 2000 by researchers in the field of children�s literature.

Another charity project is being launched by Mojdeh Art Gallery. In a statement, the gallery director Mojdeh Tabatabaei, said she will put some of her artworks on sale for three days whose proceeds will go for the people of Kermanshah, damdaman.ir wrote.

To sum up, it is worth mentioning that the solidarity of Iranian people in rendering services to the quake-hit areas indicated that the Iranian nations is firmly united and mobilized in response to the natural disaster to help diminish the sufferings of their compatriots.