/ 22 February 2005

Toll rises in Iran quake

More than 270 people were killed when a huge earthquake struck Iran before dawn on Tuesday, leaving distraught villagers to claw through the rubble of their homes in search of missing family and friends.

Officials warned that the casualty toll could rise further as rain and blocked roads made it difficult to reach stricken mountain villages in the south-eastern province of Kerman.

Provincial Governor Mohammad Ali Karimi said at least 270 people had been killed and more than 700 injured, including 500 who needed hospital treatment. Most of the dead were in the Zarand region, which suffered the worst damage.

Iranian television pictures from the stricken area showed villagers scrambling to pull bodies from the rubble of their mud-brick built houses, wailing in distress amid roads strewn with debris.

The United States Geological Survey said the earthquake, which struck at 5.55am local time, measured 6,4 on the open-ended Richter scale and its epicentre was located about 60km north-west of the city of Kerman.

Iranian television gave a reading of 6,2 points.

Karimi said 40 villages that are home to more than 30 000 residents were affected, while local Komsari said that Dahuyeh village, which has a population of 820, was ”destroyed 100%”.

Villagers were buried alive in Dahuyeh’s mosque when the quake struck during pre-dawn prayers, natural disaster services official Mohammad Javad Fadaie told state media.

Local officials warned that the rescue operation could be hampered by blocked roads and rains in the area expected to last until Thursday, while telephone lines were also cut.

”We think the death toll will climb to more than 500, with between 4 000 and 5 000 injured once we have gained access to the villages” with the use of helicopters, Iraj Sharifi of the Kerman hospital services said.

It was the deadliest quake to hit Iran since December 2003 when more than 30 000 people perished around the ancient city of Bam, just 200km from the scene of the latest killer temblor.

Local hospitals were being overwhelmed, such as the facility in Zarand that has only 100 beds and two hospitals, television reports said.

But an interior ministry spokesperson, Jahanbakhsh Khanjani, said the response to the earthquake took ”just seconds” before emergency services were rushed to the scene.

Governor Karimi said the authorities had learnt from the Bam experience, when they came in for criticism, and that this time the Islamic republic would not need international aid.

Neighbouring Turkey, which like Iran has long experience of deadly earthquakes, offered to provide aid but was turned down, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

Mohsen Salehi, another official with the natural disasters service in Kerman province, said five villages suffered 20% to 70% damage.

Several helicopters were being sent to the scene, he added. The government also mobilised two battalions of troops to help in the rescue effort, while residents were urged to stay outdoors for fear of aftershocks.

There were no reports of casualties in the city of Kerman, but the quake had knocked out electrical power in the provincial capital.

Iran sits astride several major faults in the Earth’s crust, and is prone to violent earthquakes.

In December 2003, more than 30 000 people were killed when a quake measuring 6,7 points practically razed the city of Bam. Iranian authorities blamed sloppy builders for the immense death toll.

They have also accused foreign governments of failing to deliver on aid pledges made in the immediate aftermath of the Bam quake. — AFP

 

AFP