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Iran issues new, lower earthquake death toll
May 13, 1997
Web posted at: 5:54 a.m. EDT (0954 GMT)QAEN, Iran (CNN) -- As Iran dealt with another earthquake tremor Monday, lower casualty numbers for the earlier, more devastating quake were released Tuesday.
The new jolt late on Monday struck with a force of 4.8 magnitude as rescue teams searched for survivors in the rubble produced by Saturday's disaster. There was no word on casualties in the latest quake.
The Iranian Ministry of the Interior reported the exact number of dead from the Saturday earthquake counted so far is 1,560, with 2,810 people registered as injured.
Interior Ministry officials said the death toll may indeed go higher but would not speculate on what the final number might be. Some 148 villages were damaged leaving at least 50,000 people homeless following Saturday's 7.1 magnitude quake, officials said.
There was no explanation for earlier official reports that about 2,400 had died and 6,000 were injured.
United Nations Resident Coordinator for Iran Michael Schulenburg told CNN it will take at least a week for all the dead to be registered.
Schulenburg said his teams on the ground are telling him that reports on Iranian television of up to 4,000 people dead appear to be much too high.
Damage estimate
Rasul Zargar, chief of the Interior Ministry's headquarters in charge of natural disasters, said 10,500 tents, 25,000 blankets and large quantities of food and clothing had been distributed among survivors.
The total damage inflicted on the region would be released next week, he added.
Iranian officials have put a cost of $100 million on damage caused by the earthquake, the second major jolt to strike Iran in less than three months.
About 1,000 people were killed and 2,600 injured in February when a 5.5 magnitude quake hit Iran's northwest. The same region was hit again Monday by a 4.8 force quake which resulted in no casualties or damage.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Iran launches rescue efforts after quake kills 2,400 - May 11, 1997
- Powerful quake in Iran kills 1,000, injures 6,000 - May 10, 1997
- Iran earthquake relief plane crashes - March 4, 1997
- Iran quake toll rises to 965 - March 3, 1997
- Iranian quake kills 500, injures 2,000 - March 1, 1997
Related sites:
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- Iran Net
- NetIran - information on Iran
- U.S. Geological Survey - Earthqualke Information Center, Golden Colorado
- International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
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