E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSTwo larges earthquakes hit northwestern Iran on Saturday. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
Updated at 2:40 a.m. ET: Two powerful earthquakes struck northwest Iran Saturday, killing more than 250 people and injuring about 2,000 in northwest Iran, where rescuers combed the rubble of villages through the night into Sunday, state media reported.
The U.S. Geological survey measured the first quake, which struck 37 miles northeast of the city Tabriz, at 3:25 p.m. local time (6:55 a.m. ET) with a 6.4 magnitude. The second quake, which occurred 11 minutes later, struck an area about 30 miles northeast of Tabriz with a 6.3 magnitude.
Farshid Tighehsaz / AFP - Getty Images
Residents and rescue workers search for survivors in the rubble of a house in a village near the town of Varzaqan, after twin earthquakes hit northwestern Iran on Saturday.
Most of the casualties were in outlying villages, Reuters reported.
The second quake struck near the town of Varzaghan. "The quake was so intense that people poured into the streets through fear," Fars news agency said of the town.
Stay informed with the latest headlines; sign up for our newsletter
A local official in the area told Iranian Students' News Agency that six villages had been completely destroyed and 60 villages had been 50 to 70 percent destroyed.
A local provincial official urged people in the region to stay outdoors during the night for fear of aftershocks, according to the official IRNA news agency. ISNA said there had been more than 40 aftershocks, measuring in magnitude between 4.5 and 5.0, according to Reuters.
Reuters reported that more than 200 people in the town of Varzaghan and Ahar had been rescued from under the rubble of collapsed buildings, an official IRNA news agency said, quoting a local official.
"Unfortunately there are still a number of people trapped in the rubble but finding them is very difficult because of the darkness," national emergency head Gholam Reza Masoumi was quoted as saying by Fars.
Kamel Rouhi / AFP - Getty Images
An Iranian medic attends to an injured woman as people gather outside a hospital in the town of Ahar, Iran, after a two strong earthquakes and multiple aftershocks hit northwestern Iran on August 11, 2012.
Photographs posted by Iranian news websites showed bodies lying on the floor in the corner of a white-tiled morgue in the town of Ahar, and medical staff, surrounded by anxious residents, treating the injured in the open air as dusk fell.
Other images showed collapsed buildings and cars flattened by rubble.
U.S. Geological Survey
A map shows the location of the two earthquakes that hit Iran Saturday evening.
Local media reports said the earthquakes had broken telephone communications to many villages, making rescue efforts harder. Lawmaker Abbas Falah said people in the region are in need of bread, tents and drinking water, Reuters reported.
The hospital in Varzaghan, staffed by just two doctors and suffering from shortages of medical supplies and food, was struggling to cope with about 500 injured, the Mehr news agency reported.
Watch the most-viewed videos on NBCNews.com
Tabriz is a major city and trading up far from Iran’s oil producing areas and known nuclear facilities. Though buildings in the city are substantially built, homes and businesses in Iranian villages are often made of concrete blocks of mud brick that can crumble and collapse in a strong quake.
Iran is situated amid several major fault lines and is well known for its long history of devastating earthquake activity. The last major earthquake, which struck the city of Bam in December 2003, had a 6.6 magnitude and killed more than 30,000 people – about a quarter of its population – and injured an additional 30,000.
This article includes reporting by Reuters and The Associated Press.
More world stories from NBC News:
- 'There will be no winner in Syria,' UN chief warns
- Three US special ops troops killed, Afghan officials say
- Body found at home of missing UK girl's grandmother
- Day at Olympics well worth $1,000 for family of four, NJ fans say
- Notorious Colombian druglord arrested, headed to US for trial
- Who'll win the gold medal for partying? Olympians let hair down
- One year after London riots, a family still grapples with fallout
- Video: This $4,000-per-jar caviar boasts socialist roots
- Are these German protesters the world's oldest squatters?
Leave a Comment:
God's will.
yup !he ate too much taco bell then blasted out a big ol fart over the toiletbowl called the middle east,now hopefully he leaves a big boulder filled mudslide behind before he wipes his ass then jiggles the handle and washes it all way , but then again maybe he will walk away without flushing it and leave the big mess behind
Mark S-971793....your "toilet bowl" comments are making me weary. I was attempting to get a "feel" of what the average American may think of this but, if it's all going to continue with 1st grade comments such as yours, I think I'll check other news stories.....
MARK S-97 REMEMBER Catrina and all these Hurricane's in the US , they can be saying the same thing about us buddy , Do not be so cruel man , the Iranians NEVER DONE ANYTHING TO US , You are just listening to Israel and their BS , Israel want to take over the whole Middle East because they say God gave to them , I wonder where God got his real estate licence from .
new orleans was already one big messed up overflowing toiletbowl with tons of brown turds floatin around ,even before katrina hit ,its still a broken toiletbowl ,except the water dried out and it left a big ol' nasty ring around it with dried out turds
Go back on the meds, Bozo. Don't you remember the 444 days of total terror the Iranians created to OUR Embassy? Had it not been for Mr. Reagan, they would have NEVER caved in and gave up the hostages. Read a book, learn something about history. Ya must be a DemocRAT.
@my turn-5304605 "the iranians never did anything to us" WTF read history books ,they took a @!$%#load of americans hostage back in 1979 as well as stormed our embassy before we pulled out ,the hostages were tortured and held for over a year,that when all those "yellow ribbons" popped up back in late 70's thru early 80's
You two above - get real. The "government" here helped overthrow a democratically elected government in Iran and acted to install a dictator which ended up with tortures, imprisonments and deaths in their country taking place - all for getting at THEIR oil. The "government" here supported a Crime Against Peace in supporting in its words a "brutal dictator", S. Hussein, who started an unprovoked "war", used chemical weapons, wmd's, and a million people died.
The fact that many of you people on this site are less sophisticated, less educated, and less compassionate than a basic earlier species of caveperson shows that the human race is defective to the extreme.
The fact that you feel this way towards fellow humans makes me understand how if there was a "God", he would want to start over again with a new "blueprint".
to bad it wasn't 80 or more of their leaders including ima dinner jacket....instead it was probably the poor and helpless irainians
EXACTLY! The article said VILLAGES, these were not the people who are busy "planning to DESTROY the world, They were people like most of us, JUST TRYING TO MAKE IT FROM DAY TO DAY.
thats a step in the right directin, at 88 dead per earthquake, how many more earthquakes do we need to get the job done
your a douchebag... it's not the people it's the leaders just like in this country!
I remember the Bam earthquak, it was just terrible just horrible! So many people dead and injured! I pray they dont get anymore aftershocks! The country of Iran is situated right on a huge major fault line, and they get terrible earthqiakes! My prayers go over to the people of Iran and i will pray for the injured and the families of those who have been killed! God Bless the people of Iran>>not the government! And its true, most Iranian people like our American people, they are not our enemies! I am a born again christian and I dont hate Iranians! I have friends in Iran,some are even of the Zorasterian religion also!
Well then why are you not on a flight to Iran to give them a hand? Born again? Just HOW do you get back in the womb? How many more tries do you get? Do Iranian's like "Born-agains"?? Why don't you go find out and let us know. Set up a "Bible study group" and do some conversions.
Because MY SONS are already there! These were innocent people. Why don't you ENLIST AND PUT YOUR life on the line?
You people need to re-read your history. The CIA did not depose the Shah. The Shah was ridiuclously pro-Western and received ridiculous amounts of aid and military equipment. In the revolution, we stopped relatons with Iran. Why would we depose someone we put a ton of money into then put in place a government we spend 40 years hating? You people make no sense.
only 80 dead .... damn it. Come on mother nature you can do better then that !!
another douchebag....innocent people dying is not the intent of good people, you are a bad one!
It was a nuclear test by the government in that area of Iran because they are American sympathizers, wake up
280 getting better !!
"God's will" is not the diasaster but a test to see how we react to it.
hahahah good, they deserve it, save us some nuke weapons
Really? Those five and six year olds have done something to deserve being crushed to death in their beds? Those poor people with barely enough food to stay alive deserve to die in your universe. Christian, are you?
I do have something to be thankful for today. There are so very few sub-human cretins like you.
yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
I cant wait until Iran blames us (USA) for the earthquake andjust like they blamed us for the ship fire and the navy rescued the Iranian's on that ship and of course we treated them horrible too.
I feel bad for them because not all of them are monsters and most of them want to be friends with the U.S and the rest of the world .The bad apples that run the government are the problem and not the people themselves.
Too much fresh air has warped your senses there 123. Try going to that region as an INFANTRYMAN. That will get your mind right again.
Spoken like a the true Zionists coward that you are. I have been in two wars so don't preach to me.
Camping with cub scouts is not war @!$%#. No room for arm chair warriors here.
U.S Navy jerk-off and my friends at Camp Coronado would disagree with you PlayStation Pete. Navy proud always and forever.
You tell her Rocky..She thinks 11b is god gift to earth..LOL
Navy means gay now go march in a parade and take numnuts with you! HA HA.
Clearly a dastardly evil act perpetrated by America. Obamney's fault.
Good news finally. Sad there wasn't 30 million more dead! Would have saved the US some money for bullets!
To bad you were not the first in line...
@paragus
Take your wheel vehicle mechanic homosexual self to the rockies so you can get your freak on with that navy princess. Leave the real wars to real men.
This was God's will....Who am I to question his judgement :)
An earthquake is not political. It is an environmental event. Why must all events be tagged to something political? If our tax dollars, however, stayed in this country instead of being shipped to countries who could care less who we are, we would have tremendous education programs. Education programs would then be able to teach people what is a political event and what is an environmental event.
Personally,I would have rather it destroy their leaders in power then the innocent people ....or destroyed the nuclear facility ..
Why sure. Whenever poor people and little kids are killed by being crushed it is great news to you.
You absolutely don't have a clue do you? I've spent long periods of time in the Middle East and i can tell you just from reading your vines you live in a made up wonderland of your highly negative delusional thoughts.I've met many and all of them , the peaceful ones just want a normal life. You should really stop flapping your pie hole.
I see it as like this. Your the person in those old movies that right away want to burn down the home of the accused before finding out the real truth. Basically your a sociopath .
Natural Disasters,
It's too bad that some people would attempt to politicize an incident like a major earthquake. Various types of natural disasters can and will happen anywhere on the planet at any given time, without regard for culture, political viewpoints or religious beliefs. Perspective should engender some basic humility and humanity, other human beings have lost their lives and had their homes and towns destroyed... that's the real issue.
Peace to all
With you, Steve.
Hate breeds hate. Earthquakes are simply a natural phenomenon just as volcanos and hurricanes. Peace to you Steve.
We can't send them aid. Our politicians have been pushing war propaganda like mad since the start of the election cycle. If they did a 180 it would destroy political careers on both sides of aisle. Not to mention if any American citizen tries to do it privately they'll be considered a "Suspected Terrorist" based on all these ridiculous laws that our lords, and masters in Washington have been restraining us with.
The comments here reflect such a Christian attitude. Disgusting.
Everyone is so quick to judge, but how many have actually enlisted to defend our country?? My boys have. They did it to defend innocent people from idiots that are ALL BARK AND NO BITE, They have OUR children do it for them! Hate just breeds more hate you fools. God help you and the people who DESERVE HIS help over in Iran who are suffering!
How many of you bashing these people actually know anyone from Iran? Anybody? I was extremely close to a family that immigrated here. Over time, the majority came to the US. They still spend maybe 1/3rd of their time in Iran helping their family which remained behind. No matter what, these people take care of their loved ones. no matter what age, health or mental condition, they support each other. They were also extremely proud to be American and are very involved in their communities. Each of the men started businesses which created many jobs in our area. Sure, they send some of that money home to support their families, but they paid the taxes as it was earned. The Muslim religion has the potential of promoting hate just as Christianity does. Extremists are extremists. This family isn't particularly religious. They have shown me pictures and told me stories of their village in Iran. They are human beings. They suffer just as we do. And I must say, I have never heard any of them have anything negative to say about anyone. It pains me to even read all of this hate.
If they thought the earthquake was bad, block the strait of Hormuz and see how much we can make your country shake!
I REALLY hope we don't send an aid or assistance to Iran for this, BUT if necessary, I will defecate in a plastic baggie and they can put that on some pita bread or something....LOL!
I feel nothing but sorrow for those who have no compassion for human beings suffering from disaster. Do you really believe that all Iranians are our enemy? When all that is projected is arrogance and hate is it no wonder when it is returned tenfold.
Good point, Olivia!
I DO believe that I have some a loaf of moldy bread (just scrap off the green stuff and toast it up and add hummus!) and lemme check my frig...yes..I do also have some scrapple..it's expired...Ahh...let 'em eat pork!
Olivia...just make sure that the Iran government pays for the shipping :)
Don't say "us" you miserable examples of human hate and waste. But saying that, good luck and good health; you may change someday.