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Iranian quake kills 500, injures 2,000

Snow, cold hampering rescue efforts

March 1, 1997
Web posted at: 10:55 a.m. EST (1555 GMT)

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- At least 500 people have been killed in a devastating earthquake in Iran's Ardabil province, about 590 kilometers (365 miles) northwest of Tehran.

Arbadil's Governor-General Ahmadinejad said the quake partially destroyed thousands of homes in more than 83 villages in the region, leaving 35,000 homeless in freezing winter temperatures. icon (243 K / 22 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)

The Interior Ministry said more than 1,600 people were injured in the 15-second quake Friday afternoon, but rescue workers said they feared the toll would rise as teams on foot reached villages left isolated by the damage.

"Most probably there are more bodies there lying beneath the rubble," an official with the Red Crescent relief agency said. "They could not reach them by car so they had to walk all night until they got there (Saturday)."

An additional 18 inches of snow has fallen over the already blanketed mountainous area west of the Caspian Sea, hampering rescue operations. icon (120 K / 11 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)

Doctors said clinics and hospitals in the region were overflowing, and aftershocks continued to rattle the area after the initial quake.

In the tiny village of Villadareh, home to just over 700 people, an aid worker said he had pulled 85 bodies from under the town's rubble. An Intelligence Ministry official, who had toured some of the area, said the devastation was worse in other villages.

"It's a catastrophe," the official said.

"We have lost everything," said Ali Hatami, a Tehran resident whose family lives in the village of Varania. "Only 20 people have survived out of a population of 85."

Ardabil is an agricultural province populated mainly by Iran's Azeri minority.

The Iranian government has called for three days of mourning for victims of the quake, which struck at 4:27 p.m. Friday afternoon. The state news agencies reported the quake measured a 5.5 magnitude. The U.S. Earthquake Information Center put the magnitude at 6.1.

Earthquakes measuring 6.1 and 5.4 on the Richter scale killed at least 79 people and injured 260 in northeastern Iran last month.

Correspondent Shirzad Bozorgmehr and Reuters contributed to this report.

 
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