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Well-Known Member
By Karl Vick
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, December 26, 2003; 11:15 AM
ISTANBUL, Dec. 26--A strong earthquake leveled much of the historic Iranian city of Bam early Friday, causing deaths that local officials estimated in the thousands.
The temblor struck at 5:30 a.m. local time (9 p.m. ET Thursday), catching most of the city's residents in bed, some in ancient mud-walled structures that in some cases date back 2,000 years. About 60 percent of Bam's houses were destroyed or severely damaged, . according to reports from officials who had surveyed the city of 80,000.
Iranian state television reported an initial estimate that more than 4,000 people were killed and about 30,000 were injured in the region, which is 630 miles southeast of Tehran. Earlier, media reports from Bam quoted local officials saying that 2,000 bodies had been recovered 10 hours after the quake.
President Mohammad Khatami, in a hastily called news conference, cautioned that early death estimates may not be reliable but added, "obviously there have been a lot of casualties." Khatami, Iran's most senior elected official, also emphasized the need to coordinate rescue effort, saying the first 48 hours are most critical. He gave thanks that the airfield at Bam remained in operation, saving hours in delivering rescue aid.
The U.S. Geological Survey measured the magnitude of the earthquake at 6.7. Iran's official media quoted a magnitude of 6.3. Either indicates a "strong" quake, releasing energy equivalent to a 1 megaton hydrogen bomb.
Rescue teams were arriving at the stricken area, and officials scrambled to provide fresh drinking water and emergency shelters.
Reports said the city's medieval fortress, a massive structure that attracts tourists to a cliff just outside the city, was leveled.
"The historic quarter of the city has been completely destroyed and caused great human loss," Mehran Nourbakhsh, chief spokesman for Iran's Red Crescent, told the Associated Press.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia was sending two huge Ilyushin cargo planes laden with rescue teams and emergency provisions.
Television pictures taken from a vehicle driving through Bam showed lightly damaged storefronts alternating with buildings reduced to tidy piles of mud brick. Aerial images indicated whole city blocks had fallen to bits.
Iran is prone to earthquakes but poorly prepared to survive them, experts say. The nation of 70 million sits astride several active fault lines. An earthquake in the range of the magnitude that struck Bam this morning killed 50,000 people in June 1990
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31539-2003Dec26.html
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, December 26, 2003; 11:15 AM
ISTANBUL, Dec. 26--A strong earthquake leveled much of the historic Iranian city of Bam early Friday, causing deaths that local officials estimated in the thousands.
The temblor struck at 5:30 a.m. local time (9 p.m. ET Thursday), catching most of the city's residents in bed, some in ancient mud-walled structures that in some cases date back 2,000 years. About 60 percent of Bam's houses were destroyed or severely damaged, . according to reports from officials who had surveyed the city of 80,000.
Iranian state television reported an initial estimate that more than 4,000 people were killed and about 30,000 were injured in the region, which is 630 miles southeast of Tehran. Earlier, media reports from Bam quoted local officials saying that 2,000 bodies had been recovered 10 hours after the quake.
President Mohammad Khatami, in a hastily called news conference, cautioned that early death estimates may not be reliable but added, "obviously there have been a lot of casualties." Khatami, Iran's most senior elected official, also emphasized the need to coordinate rescue effort, saying the first 48 hours are most critical. He gave thanks that the airfield at Bam remained in operation, saving hours in delivering rescue aid.
The U.S. Geological Survey measured the magnitude of the earthquake at 6.7. Iran's official media quoted a magnitude of 6.3. Either indicates a "strong" quake, releasing energy equivalent to a 1 megaton hydrogen bomb.
Rescue teams were arriving at the stricken area, and officials scrambled to provide fresh drinking water and emergency shelters.
Reports said the city's medieval fortress, a massive structure that attracts tourists to a cliff just outside the city, was leveled.
"The historic quarter of the city has been completely destroyed and caused great human loss," Mehran Nourbakhsh, chief spokesman for Iran's Red Crescent, told the Associated Press.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia was sending two huge Ilyushin cargo planes laden with rescue teams and emergency provisions.
Television pictures taken from a vehicle driving through Bam showed lightly damaged storefronts alternating with buildings reduced to tidy piles of mud brick. Aerial images indicated whole city blocks had fallen to bits.
Iran is prone to earthquakes but poorly prepared to survive them, experts say. The nation of 70 million sits astride several active fault lines. An earthquake in the range of the magnitude that struck Bam this morning killed 50,000 people in June 1990
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31539-2003Dec26.html
I read this last night just before shutting down.
I'm sure the nuclear tickle bombs will only be used for good and not to spread distruction, right? 
