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Briefs: Quake hits Iran
ZARAND (Iran): More than 500 people were killed when a powerful earthquake struck Iran before dawn on Tuesday. The quake measured 6.4 on the Richter scale. The authorities feared the toll could increase further.
Most of the dead were in the Zarand region north of the provincial capital of Kerman.
Whole villages were flattened by the force of the quake in the southeastern province of Kerman, the deadliest since December 2003, when more than 30,000 people perished in the ancient city of Bam, 200 kilometres away.
Hospitals in the region were overwhelmed and officials warned that the casualty toll could rise further as rain and blocked roads made it difficult to reach stricken mountain villages.
Villagers scrambled to pull bodies from the rubble of their houses, wailing in distress amid roads strewn with debris.
Provincial Governor Mohammad Ali Karimi said 40 villages, which are home to more than 30,000 residents, were affected. Half of them, including Dahuyeh, which has a population of 820, were flattened, said the Iranian Red Crescent.
Iran sits astride several major faults in the earth’s crust, and is prone to violent earthquakes which killed some 170,000 people in about 20 quakes during the 20th century.—AFP
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