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The death toll continues to rise following an
earthquake early Tuesday in the southeastern Iranian province of Kerman.
At least 400 people have reportedly been killed and many hundreds more
injured. Dozens of villages were damaged or completely flattened. Even so,
the Iranian government has said there is no need for international
assistance.
Devastated Iranians worked throughout the day Tuesday frantically clawing through rubble, debris
and mud trying to find their loved ones.
Many residents were seen weeping as they sat next to bloodied blankets
and sheets containing the bodies of dead relatives.
With freezing rain drenching their devastated villages, shrieks
of pain and anguish were heard as more bodies were unearthed from the
rubble. In some areas, residents had already starting burying the dead.
The powerful quake, registering 6.4 on the Richter scale, ravaged
dozens of villages not far from where a December 2003 earthquake killed as
many as 30,000 Iranians and destroyed the ancient city of Bam. Officials
in Iran say they expect the death toll to rise because many villages were
completely flattened.
The temblor struck at about 6 am local time; its epicenter was near the
town of Zarand, where the population is about 15,000. The town is located
some 700 kilometers southeast of Tehran.
Within hours of the quake, all hospitals in Zarand were overflowing with patients. Some of the
injured were taken by trains to hospitals in nearby Kerman.
Rescue efforts have been hampered by freezing rain, blocked roads and
downed power and telephone lines.
Relief teams moved in as quickly as they could to provide food, tents
and blankets. In many villages, there is no shelter. The Iranian Red
Crescent has made an emergency appeal for clothes, medical supplies, food
and water.
The government in Tehran, which called for a national day of mourning
on Wednesday, said there was no need for international assistance.
Iran is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. On
average, at least one slight earthquake strikes the country every day.
During the 20th century, as many as 140,000 people were killed in
earthquakes in Iran with hundreds of thousands more injured. | 
