Thread: Iran earthquakes kill 153 people in the northwest

Iran earthquakes kill 153 people in the northwest

By Zahra Hosseinian
DUBAI | Sat Aug 11, 2012 3:34pm EDT


DUBAI (Reuters) - Two strong earthquakes struck northwest Iran on Saturday, killing 153 people and injuring more than 1,300 as buildings were reduced to rubble, Iranian officials said.

Thousands fled their homes and remained outdoors as at least 20 aftershocks hit the area.

Casualty numbers could well rise, Iranian officials feared, as some of the injured are in a critical condition, others are still trapped under the rubble and rescuers have yet to reach some of the affected villages.
Ira
n is straddled by major fault lines and has suffered several devastating earthquakes in recent years, including a 6.6 magnitude quake in 2003 which turned the southeastern historic city of Bam into dust and killed more than 25,000 people.

The U.S. Geological Survey measured Saturday's first quake at 6.4 magnitude and said it struck 60 km (37 miles) northeast of the city of Tabriz at a depth of 9.9 km (6.2 miles). A second quake measuring 6.3 struck 49 km (30 miles) northeast of Tabriz 11 minutes later at a similar depth.

Deputy Interior Minister Hassan Ghadami said 153 people had been killed and provincial official Khalil Sa'ie said some 1,300 had been injured, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

The second quake struck near the town of Varzaghan. "The quake was so intense that people poured into the streets through fear," Fars news agency said of the town.

About 210 people in Varzaghan and Ahar have been rescued from under the rubble of collapsed buildings, the official IRNA news agency said, quoting a local official.

"So far 73 bodies from Varzaghan and Ahar have been handed over to the coroner's office," IRNA quoted Bahram Samadirad, a provincial official from the office, as saying.

He added, "Since some people are in a critical condition and rescue workers are still trying to rescue people from under the rubble, unfortunately it is possible for the number of casualties to rise."

Photographs posted by Iranian news websites showed about a dozen bodies lying on the floor in the corner of a white-tiled morgue in Ahar, and medical staff, surrounded by anxious residents, working on the injured in the open air as dusk fell.

"I was just on the phone talking to my mother when she said 'there's just been an earthquake', then the line was cut," one woman from Tabriz, who lives outside Iran, wrote on Facebook after telephoning her mother in the city.

"God, what has happened? After that I couldn't get through. God has also given me a slap, and it was very hard."

Tabriz is a major city and trading hub far from Iran's oil producing areas and known nuclear facilities. Buildings in the city are substantially built, and the Iranian Students' News Agency said nobody in the city itself had been killed or hurt.

Homes and businesses in Iranian villages, however, are often made of concrete blocks or mud brick that can crumble and collapse in a strong quake.

Fars quoted lawmaker Abbas Falahi as saying he believed rescue workers had not yet been able to reach between 10 and 20 villages.

A local provincial official urged people in the region to stay outdoors during the night for fear of aftershocks, according to IRNA. Falahi said people in the region were in need of bread, tents and drinking water.

The Turkish Red Crescent said it was sending a truck full of emergency supplies to the border, an official said.

Iran earthquakes kill 153 people in the northwest | Reuters

Iran quake death toll hits 250, with over 2,000 injured, six villages leveled

Published August 11, 2012
FoxNews.com

Northwestern Iran was struck Saturday by a series of major earthquakes and strong aftershocks, as state TV reported at least 250 dead, 2,000 injured and at least six villages leveled.

Images broadcast on the main news channel showed dozens of families of sleeping outdoors in parks, with blankets laid out on the ground. Some were crying, others shivering from chilly weather in the mountainous region hit by the quake in the northwestern part of the country.

TV also showed many people evacuated by rescue teams on stretchers to hospitals and clinics. Other images showed the injured in hospital beds.

The U.S. Geological Survey put the first earthquake, which struck midday, at magnitude 6.4, followed by a 6.3 quake. There were numerous aftershocks, registering as high as magnitude 5.0.

The death toll reported on local media steadily climbed throughout the day, with the latest reports suggesting a widening disaster in East Azerbaijan province.

An early report said at least 60 villages sustained damage ranging from 50 to 80 percent, in addition to the six that were leveled.

Iran is located on seismic fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. It experiences at least one earthquake every day on average, although the vast majority are so small they go unnoticed.

Iran quake death toll hits 250, with over 2,000 injured, six villages leveled | Fox News

Two earthquakes in Iran kill 300 and injure 5,000


By Yeganeh Torbati | Reuters – 9 hrs ago

DUBAI (Reuters) - Overcrowded hospitals in northwest Iran struggled to cope with thousands of earthquake victims on Sunday as rescuers raced to reach remote villages after two powerful quakes killed nearly 300 people.

Thousands huddled in makeshift camps or slept in the street after Saturday's quakes for fear of more aftershocks, 60 of which had already struck. A lack of tents and other supplies left them exposed to the night chill, one witness told Reuters.

"I saw some people whose entire home was destroyed, and all their livestock killed," Tahir Sadati, a local photographer, said by telephone. "People need help, they need warm clothes, more tents, blankets and bread."

The worst damage and most casualties appeared to have been in rural villages around the towns of Ahar, Varzaghan and Harees, near the major city of Tabriz, Iranian media reported.

Tabriz resident Ahmad, 41, told Reuters his cousin living in a village near Ahar was killed and his body found.

"Nobody knows what happened to his wife and two daughters," aged 4 and 7, Ahmad said. "We fear that if rescuers don't get to them soon, they will lose their lives too if they're still alive."

But Iranian officials said rescue operations had ended by Sunday afternoon and that all those trapped beneath the rubble had been freed, Iran's English-language Press TV reported.

Many villages are hard to reach by road, hindering rescue efforts. Hospitals in Tabriz, Ardabil and other cities nearby took in many of the injured, residents and Iranian media said, and there were long queues of survivors waiting to be treated.

"I wanted to go there last night to help but heard there was bad traffic and that it wasn't safe enough," Ahmad said. "People in those villages need help."

Abbas Falahi, member of parliament for Ahar and Harees, said people in some villages were still "in dire need of food and drinking water", the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

"Despite the promises of officials, little first aide has been distributed in the region and most people are left without tents. If the situation continues, the toll will rise," he said.

Aidin, a Tabriz resident, said he went to give blood at a local hospital on Saturday and saw staff struggling to cope with the influx of patients. Most patients had been taken there by their families, he said, indicating a shortage of ambulances.

Ahar's 120-bed hospital was full, said Arash, a college student in the town. There were traffic jams on the narrow road to Tabriz as victims tried to reach hospitals, he said by telephone.

VILLAGES DESTROYED
"People are scared and won't go back into their houses because they fear the buildings aren't safe."

The U.S. Geological Survey measured Saturday's first quake at 6.4 magnitude and said it struck 60 km (37 miles) northeast of the city of Tabriz, a trading hub far from Iran's oil-producing areas and known nuclear facilities.

The second, measuring 6.3, struck 11 minutes later near Varzaghan, 49 km (30 miles) northeast of Tabriz.

More than 1,000 villages in the area were affected by the earthquakes, Ahmad Reza Shaji'i, a Red Crescent official, told the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA). Some 130 villages suffered more than 70 percent damage, and 20 villages were completely destroyed, he said.

"We saw some villages that were truly destroyed," said Sadati, the photographer who was documenting the quake aftermath. "One good thing was that the earthquake happened during the day, so many people were not in their homes. If it had happened at night the casualties would have been far worse."

Close to 300 people were believed to be dead, said Reza Sadighi, Ahar's local governor, Fars news agency said. National emergency head Gholam Reza Masoumi said 5,000 people are believed to be injured, according to ISNA.

Nearly 100 ambulances and 1,100 Red Crescent workers were deployed, Shaji'i said, along with 44,000 food packages and 5,600 tents for shelter. The relief agency had enough supplies and most residents in the area had access to clean water but Shaji'i asked residents to donate cash to the relief effort.

Tehran officials sent condolences to the victims and declared two days of mourning in the province, ISNA reported.

About 36,000 people in the quake-hit area have been given emergency shelter, Masoumi was quoted as saying by ISNA.

Iranian lawmaker Mohammad Hassan-Nejad warned that if relief efforts did not speed up, the death toll would swiftly rise.

"Relief groups have still not reached many villages, because in normal conditions some of these villages are several hours away," he told ISNA. "Currently the roads are closed and the only way to reach these villages is by air."

COLLAPSED BUILDINGS
Photographs posted on Iranian news websites showed numerous bodies, including children, lying on the floor of a white-tiled morgue in Ahar and medical staff treating the injured in the open air as dusk fell on Saturday. Other images showed rescue workers digging people out of rubble - some alive, many dead.

Twenty-eight year old Narges in Tehran said she saw dozens of people in a hospital waiting to donate blood for the victims.

Iran is crisscrossed by major fault lines and has suffered several devastating earthquakes in recent years, including a 6.6 magnitude quake in 2003 that reduced the historic southeastern city of Bam to dust and killed about 31,000 people.

Saturday's quakes struck in East Azerbaijan province, a mountainous region that neighbours Azerbaijan and Armenia to the north.

Buildings in Tabriz, the provincial capital, are substantially built and ISNA reported nobody in the city had been killed or hurt.

Homes and business premises in Iranian villages, however, are often made of concrete blocks or mud brick that can crumble and collapse in a strong quake.

Water, electricity, and phone lines in the area of Varzaghan are all down, further hindering rescue efforts, Iran's English-language Press TV reported.

Tabriz residents left their homes and crowded the streets following the two quakes, those in the city said. "Everyone was scared last night," a resident said by telephone. "They set up tents and were sleeping in the streets and in parks."

Two earthquakes in Iran kill 300 and injure 5,000 - Yahoo! News