[FREE IRAN Project] In The Spirit Of Cyrus The Great

[stefania]

SIGN IMPORTANT PLEA FOR JUSTICE!(Bam 'Quake Genocide)
Iran Quake Death Toll 'Very High'
Reuters - World News
Dec 25, 2003



TEHRAN - An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale struck southeastern Iran Friday and the death toll was "very high," a senior Iranian official said.

"There is a lot of dead and injured in (the city of) Bam and all the cooperation has been done to take them out," Mohammad Ali Karimi, governor of Kerman province, told state media.

No official estimates of the number of dead or injured were available.

"There was a lot of damage in (Bam)," Karimi said, adding that a crisis headquarters had been set up to deal with the situation.

State radio said a lot of people were "buried" under debris in Bam.

Officials said five helicopters had been deployed to help with rescue efforts.

The official IRNA news agency said Red Crescent rescue teams had been dispatched to the quake-hit area in Kerman province. Quakes are a regular occurrence in Iran, which is crossed by several major fault lines in the earth's structure.

In June last year, a tremor measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale hit northern Iran, killing at least 229 people and injuring more than 1,000.

Some 35,000 people were killed in 1990 when earthquakes of up to 7.7 on the Richter scale hit the northwest of Iran. Tehran was hit by a quake of about seven on the Richter scale in 1830.

The U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center said its measuring equipment indicated Friday's quake had a magnitude of 6.7.

It said the epicenter of the "strong earthquake" appeared to be about 610 miles southeast of Iran's capital Tehran.

A leading Iranian earthquake expert told Reuters in October that earthquake education in Iran was very poor.

"Most people think what God wills, will happen. This is absolutely wrong. This thinking is poisonous," said Bahram Akasheh, professor of geophysics at Tehran University.

My deepest condolances to the Iranian victims
_________________
Referendum AFTER Regime Change

"I'm ready to die for you to be able to say your own opinions, even if i strongly disagree with you" (Voltaire)

[CryFreedomDMB]

My deepest condolences also to the beautiful Iranian people.. It's amazing that a regime that has such a lucrative oil business with partners in Europe can't allocate a sizeable fund per year that can go to modernization of buildings and homes? The reason why these earthquakes are so devastating is that the government gives not one care for the people and would rather to continue plundering the Iranian country and amassing ridiculous amounts of wealth in their own bloody pockets..

Why is it that the latest California quake was 7.0 magnitude but didn't kill that many - but the 6.3 in Iran is feared to have killed 20,000? Hmmm - time to do some quality construction and reconstruction..., oh wait, that's right - what Islamic Regime official really cares about the people of Iran? -- NONE OF THEM
_________________
Cry freedom cry
From a crowd '0,000 wide
Hope laid upon hope
That this crowd will not subside
Let this flag burn to dust
And a new a fair design be raised

[Eric]

Interesting dicussion - here are some photos I've found..

[Phoenician]

The reason why so many still live in this ancient CIty of Bam is because construction on the outside is so bad - there is no other place for peol;e to live, so they live in an ancient city - which should be off limits to living and should be a historical LOCATION that is RESPECTED and taken care of.

[Eric]

s

[KnownSolDier]

Down with the regime that does not invest in the infrastructure of Iranian country and lets these tragedys occur.. DOWN DOWN DOWN!!!!

[shah]

To neglect a country like the IRI has is nothing more than a CRIME against HUMANITY!!!! At least they could put some of their oil revenues back into the Iranian society rather than keeping it for themselves - as Saddam did.

[peter g]

[stefania]

They are only a bunch of murderers and they don't even care about their people!!!!

Most of the oil revenues are sent daily to the palestinians and the terroristic organizations, plus to the French,the germans, the Russians and ....Kofi Annan, Fidel castro, Kim Yong IL, the Chinese, etc..


No money are spent for the iranian people!!

Oh, maybe they spend them to build new mosques in a country proud of its rich past and religion,and not Islam!
_________________
Referendum AFTER Regime Change

"I'm ready to die for you to be able to say your own opinions, even if i strongly disagree with you" (Voltaire)

[shakira]

[Spenta]

This is truly a great tragedy. Please send money and help everyone.

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20,000 feared dead in Iran quake

Friday, December 26, 2003 Posted: 11:05 AM EST (1605 GMT)
TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iran has appealed for international aid as the death toll from a devastating earthquake climbed to 4,000 and officials warned that thousands more are likely to be found dead.

At least 30,000 people have been injured in the quake in southeastern Iran, local officials said.

The Iranian government said as many as 20,000 people may have died in the quake, which was centered near the ancient city of Bam about 610 miles (975 km) southeast of the capital, Tehran.

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

"I have lost all my family. My parents, my grandmother and two sisters are under the rubble," a 17-year-old girl told Reuters.

State media said two of Bam's hospitals had collapsed, leaving many of the staff injured. The remaining hospitals are reportedly full and rescuers were attempting to transported the wounded to neighboring towns.

The government requested international assistance, asking for sniffer dogs to help find the thousands feared trapped in the ruins.

"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. Bam has a population of about 80,000 people.

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

"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."

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.

Meanwhile, Russia and Germany have so far offered to help Iran in the rescue operations.

Russian Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Marina Ryklina said that two Il-76 transport aircraft with rescue workers and equipment were to leave for Iran later Friday, AP reported.

Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer sent a telegram to his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharrazi offering support.

"Germany is ready to do everything in its powers to contribute to recovering and rescuing people in the earthquake region,'' Fischer wrote.

German President Johannes Rau sent a letter of condolence to Iran's President Mohammad Khatami, and also offered German assistance, Reuters reported.

"I assure you that Germany is ready to support your nation in overcoming the material damages,'' Rau wrote.

-- Journalist Shirzad Bozorgmehr contributed to this report





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Quake Topples Historical Bam Citadel

December 26, 2003
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting
IRIB News

Tehran -- The historic town of Bam in southeast Iran, one of the country's main tourist attractions for both Iranians and foreigners, was heavily damaged Friday by an earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale.

The 2000-year-old town, one of the oldest in the country, has a reported population of more than 180,000 whose main income in the dry area is from tourism.

Sadly though, the main tourist attraction, the Arg'e Bam building, a palace for kings in ancient Persia, was reportedly flattened by the quake.

Bam was shaped over 2000 years ago out of red clay from the Dasht'e Kavir desert. Buildings in the ancient side of the town had been only slightly renovated so they would be kept intact for historical purposes. It is feared the quake destroyed the whole ancient side of the town which if true, would result in a cultural as well as human disaster for the country.

[Erica]

This is amazing that 20,000 people can be killed in an Earthquake in year 2004 -

Maybe if the thugs running the country spent more money on the citizens and society rather than stealing it all these things wouldn't happen.. I am an American that stands with the great Persians!!!1!

[Jonathan D.]

[Spenta]

Total population 80,000. 20,000 is one quarter, this is a very high percentage

[julie]

I lived in Tehran many years ago whilst married to an Iranian. I found the people to be some of the nicest,decent, family orientated human beings that I have ever met in my life and my heart goes out to all those who have lost their loved ones. They suffer greatly living in such a corrupt regime and I only hope that all the rest of the world tries to give them as much help as they can.