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Iran quake toll rises to 965
New quakes reported in Iran, Pakistan
March 3, 1997
Web posted at: 9:30 a.m. EST (1430 GMT)TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- The official death toll from the earthquake that rocked Iran's northwestern Ardabil region rose on Monday to 965, but rescue workers estimated that the actual toll may be three times that figure.
The latest official figures came only hours after reports of a second earthquake in the mountainous region on Iran's border with Azerbaijan.
Two more moderate earthquakes were also reported in Pakistan Monday.
Friday's quake in Iran, which struck a largely rural region, had a magnitude of 5.5 and left 40,000 people homeless in heavy snow and harsh winter conditions. It was centered near Ardabil and Meshkinshahr.
In addition to those killed, the Islamic Republic News Agency said 2,600 were injured. But aid workers and rescuers who visited the approximately 100 devastated villages in northwestern Iran estimate that as many as 3,000 people have died.
A Red Crescent official told Reuters a second earthquake with a magnitude 5.2 hit the Ardabil region Sunday night and left casualties, but it was not yet clear how many.
State-run Tehran radio earlier said the tremor and its several aftershocks destroyed some buildings in villages and areas already damaged on Friday, prompting residents to flee their homes in fear.
"Power has been cut in most towns and villages," it said.
There have been about 350 aftershocks since Friday's quake, the official news agency IRNA said.
Relief efforts continue
The head of the country's Red Crescent Society, Seifollah Vahid Dastjerdi, quoted by IRNA, expressed satisfaction with the pace of relief operations.
He said that so far more than 8,700 tents, 21,800 blankets, 15,300 heaters and lanterns, 2,000 cans of baby formula and 80 tons of bread had been distributed to the victims.
Some 60 ambulances, 127 trucks and vans and two helicopters were transferring the injured, relief workers and supplies to and from the stricken region, he said.
Dastjerdi added that Switzerland, Britain, Japan and some international relief organizations had offered to help the victims.
New quakes rock Pakistan
In Pakistan, the two moderate earthquakes that jolted two towns Monday caused no casualties, officials said. They came three days after a more powerful quake killed about 60 people in southwestern Pakistan.
The first of Monday's shocks was magnitude 5.2, according to the government seismic center in the northwestern city of Peshawar. It said the epicenter was in the Harnai district, about 60 miles (100 km) east of Quetta, capital of the southwestern Baluchistan province.
Villages in the Harnai area suffered the most casualties and damage in Friday's quake, which also caused deaths in Sibi.
The second of Monday's tremors, with a magnitude of 4.5, struck Peshawar itself at 11.38 a.m. (0638 GMT). Its epicenter was about 80 miles (130 km) southwest of the North West Frontier Province capital, near the border with Afghanistan.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Cold, ice hamper efforts to aid Iranian quake victims - March 2, 1997
- Death toll reportedly rises in Iran as quakes ravage region - March 1, 1997
- Iranian quake kills 500, injures 2,000 - March 1, 1997
Related sites:
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- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS): Earthquake Information for the World
- Global Earthquake Response Center
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