20,000 Feared Dead In Iran Quake
 

Preliminary estimates so far put the death toll at about 20,000.

The quake was centered near the ancient city of Bam about 610 miles (975 km) southeast of the capital, Tehran. Bam has a population of about 80,000 people.

"The situation in Bam is worrying. The scale of the damage and deaths is widespread and the number of victims is high," Mohammad Ali Karimi, the governor general of Kerman province, told Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

He said 60 percent of the city's residential areas have been destroyed.

The quake struck at 5:27 a.m. Friday (8:57 p.m. ET Thursday) as people were sleeping.

"The historic quarter of the city has been completely destroyed and caused great human loss," Nour Bakhsh with Iran's Red Crescent relief agency told IRNA.

A legislator for Kerman province, Hasan Khoshrou, told The Associated Press people on the scene said the devastation was "beyond imagination."

Adding to the crisis, both of the hospitals in Bam were destroyed in the earthquake, forcing people to seek medical attention in the provincial capital of Kerman. Private vehicles have been banned from the roads to make room for emergency traffic.

"We have no exact information about the scale of the damage since all telephone communications with the cities of Bam, Jiroft and Kohnouj had been cut off," Karimi said.

Mostafa Mohaghegh, another Red Crescent official, told CNN that rescuers were busy providing food, shelter and medicine to those injured in the quake.

"The state of the damages is very wide in the city so we are yet to identify the total number of those who have died and also the injured."


http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/WORLD/meas...y.iran.map.jpg
In explaining the severity of the damage to the city, journalist Shirzad Bozorgmehr in Tehran said Bam is an ancient city not designed to withstand a major earthquake. He said army search and rescue teams have been mobilized to the area.

Tehran University's Geophysics Institute said the earthquake measured a magnitude of 6.3, according to IRNA. It was followed by several aftershocks, including one measuring 5.3.

For its part, the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center measured the magnitude of the quake at 6.7

Good grief, that is terrible. Despite all the political differences and disputes, the US and the UN need to help in this situation.

i hope Mr_007 is okay...

looks really terrible.

Wow, that is horrible.
I could only fear the devistation of an earthquake in an old, densly populated city.
This is a horrible tragity.

This is pretty bad, I hope the death toll does not rise and all of the missing turn out alright.

I hope I do not sound like a dick but does any one else find the irony in an earthquake striking a town named "Bam"?

I am sure i posted here...

Profile For Mr_007 Search for all posts by this user.

Date Registered: 02-24-2003
Status: Forum King
Total Posts: 2222 (7.26 posts per day)
Last Post: 12-25-2003 07:21 AM
Intrepid Chamber

His last post was about one of my wallpapers? :weird:

I really hope he's alright.

Oh zootm i live in mashhad city of khorasan.
khorasan is in east of iran.

Oh this is a great incident in bam.
this is really terrible incident in iran.
very of people death in this incident and
%70 of homes in bam is broken.
international help is in road of bam.

Glad to hear your okay mr_007.

It certainly is terrible news. Apparently the international aid is starting to arrive in Bam now and the Iranian people are flocking to the area to try and help to.

My thoughts are with you and your fellow country folk.

Keep safe.

Thanks marvinbarcelona.
also mashhad city is very off of bam in kerman.

I very glad to hear that you're safe, Mr 007. :)


Although the US and other Western nations are sending aid to the people, I just hope that things don't get worse over the winter, with all the loss of homes and basic necessities.

Yer good to hear that your fine Mr_007. Poor Iran though, atleast everyone trying pitch in and help.

i have no words for this.

Iran quake toll could hit 50,000

that's insanity. i don't know if it's possible to even comprehend such a disaster... for us westerners, that's nearly 17 september the 11th tragedies. all at one time.

50,000 people from one country gone in seconds, Jesus....

I hope I can speak for everyone here when I say that all our thoughts are with the people of Iran.

:(

Thanks of people all over the world for help to people
bam.