UPDATE: Iran quake toll climbs to 500, over 1000 injured

TEHRAN, February 23 (Online): Death toll in Iran earthquake climbed to almost 500, injuring over thousands of people and destroying villages, a local official told. The quake, which measured 6.4 on the Richter scale, was centered on the town of Zarand in Kerman province, about 440 miles southeast of Tehran.

"Figures we have show that in the early hours more than 1,000 were injured and almost 500 killed," said Ali Komsari, a spokesman for the Kerman provincial governor's office.

"We are expecting the death toll to rise," Ali Sharifi, head of Kerman's medical university, told state radio.

The Interior Ministry said at least 950 people were injured in the quake, which struck near Zarand, a city of about 135,000 people in Kerman province, CNN reported.

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http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=94908

,...over the last year.

My deepest sympathies :cry:

to raise money and spread goodwill for Iranian victims ...

n/t

February 23, 2005

ISLAMABAD, Iran (AP) -- Rescue teams using dogs and heavy machinery pulled more bodies from the ruins of flattened villages in central Iran on Wednesday, and officials raised the death toll from a powerful earthquake to at least 500. The count was expected to rise even higher.

A 14-year-old girl was pulled out of the rubble alive and immediately asked if her family survived.

Teams were hampered by bad weather and the mountainous terrain, working in a cold, heavy rain after a night during which temperatures dropped below freezing.

Mohammad Javad Fadaei, deputy governor of Kerman province, said more bodies had been discovered. "The death toll is now 500, and there's a possibility that the figure will increase," he told The Associated Press. At least 900 people were injured.

Many survivors huddled in tents, trying to escape the chill, after the magnitude 6.4 struck early Tuesday, damaging some 40 villages with a combined population of 30,000 people and leaving many homeless. Rescue workers were still digging out survivors and bodies in the three most isolated villages.

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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAN_EARTHQUAKE?SITE=NVLAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT