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300 die, 5,000 hurt as 2 earthquakes hit hundreds of villages in Iran
Source: Agencies |
August 13, 2012, Monday
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Overcrowded hospitals in northwest Iran were struggling to cope yesterday as rescuers raced to reach remote villages hit by two powerful quakes that killed nearly 300 people and injured about 5,000 others.
Thousands huddled in makeshift camps or slept in the street after Saturday's quakes in fear of more aftershocks, 60 of which had already struck.
A lack of tents and other supplies left them exposed to the night chill.
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 officials said rescue operations there had ended by yesterday afternoon and that everyone 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, but there were long queues of survivors waiting to be treated.
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. There were traffic jams on the narrow road between Ahar and Tabriz as victims tried to reach hospitals, he said.
"People are scared and won't go back into their houses because they fear they aren't safe."
The US Geological Survey measured Saturday's first quake at 6.4 magnitude and said it struck 60 kilometers northeast 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 kilometers northeast of Tabriz.
More than 1,000 villages in the area were affected, Ahmad Reza Shaji'i, a Red Crescent official, told the Iranian Students' News Agency.
About 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, a photographer who was documenting the quake aftermath.
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.
Officials in Tehran extended condolences to the victims and declared two days of mourning to be held in the province.
About 16,000 people in the quake-hit area have been given emergency shelter, Red Crescent official Mahmoud Mozafar said.
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 said. "Currently the roads are closed and the only way to reach these villages is by air."
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.
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 neighbors Azerbaijan and Armenia to the north.
Buildings in Tabriz, the provincial capital, are substantially built and no one in the city was 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.
Tabriz residents left their homes and crowded the streets following the two quakes.
"Everyone was scared last night," a resident said. "They set up tents and were sleeping in the streets and in parks."
Thousands huddled in makeshift camps or slept in the street after Saturday's quakes in fear of more aftershocks, 60 of which had already struck.
A lack of tents and other supplies left them exposed to the night chill.
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 officials said rescue operations there had ended by yesterday afternoon and that everyone 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, but there were long queues of survivors waiting to be treated.
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. There were traffic jams on the narrow road between Ahar and Tabriz as victims tried to reach hospitals, he said.
"People are scared and won't go back into their houses because they fear they aren't safe."
The US Geological Survey measured Saturday's first quake at 6.4 magnitude and said it struck 60 kilometers northeast 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 kilometers northeast of Tabriz.
More than 1,000 villages in the area were affected, Ahmad Reza Shaji'i, a Red Crescent official, told the Iranian Students' News Agency.
About 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, a photographer who was documenting the quake aftermath.
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.
Officials in Tehran extended condolences to the victims and declared two days of mourning to be held in the province.
About 16,000 people in the quake-hit area have been given emergency shelter, Red Crescent official Mahmoud Mozafar said.
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 said. "Currently the roads are closed and the only way to reach these villages is by air."
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.
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 neighbors Azerbaijan and Armenia to the north.
Buildings in Tabriz, the provincial capital, are substantially built and no one in the city was 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.
Tabriz residents left their homes and crowded the streets following the two quakes.
"Everyone was scared last night," a resident said. "They set up tents and were sleeping in the streets and in parks."
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