Iran Quake Kills, Injures Thousands

People in the devastated area have been asked to stay outdoors for fear of aftershocks.

The Iranian interior ministry said there have already been 20 aftershocks.

A spokesman for the governor’s office in Zarand, which has a population of about 15,000 people, said they had identified and registered 137 bodies, but added that 400 people were known to have died so far, according to the BBC News Online.

“A hundred bodies have been recovered from the rubble, there are five thousand injured,” said Ali Sharifi, head of the Kerman university hospital.

“But many villages have still not been reached by the rescue services, and we think therefore that the toll could go a lot higher,” he said on Iranian state radio.

Rescue Efforts

Eleven rescue teams have been sent to the devastated areas, including police, military and helicopters, to offer help to the afflicted people.

“Up till now we have sent two helicopters to the scene and another four are preparing to take off,” said Mohsen Salehi, an official with the natural disasters service in Kerman.

He stressed that five villages in the region suffered 20 percent to 70 percent damage, and at least one village was completely cut off due to blocked roads.

Iran has at least a minor earthquake almost every day.

The United Nations says Iran is the worst country in the world in terms of earthquakes.

Seismologists say this is because Iran is at the confluence of three of the Earth’s plates and is literally being squeezed by them.

In December 2003, a massive quake measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale razed the southeastern Iranian city of Bam killing an estimated 26,000 people.

Bam’s ancient citadel, a world architectural heritage site, was leveled by the tremor.

During the 20th century, around 20 big quakes hit Iran , leaving more than 140,000 dead, according to AFP.