Show devastates tal devas ta t s Iran I fr Amanda da HUg Hughes s international e l S HE iTE E worlds world's 1 d de e a d I 1 i e es st st. t t earthquake eai ake since 1976 76 6 hit early arIy Thursday June 22 In i Northern Iran killing at least fp people and h leaving ving hundreds of injured and homeless pK The earthquake J e struck at 1230 m. m and w was wIs S centered miles g the nO st t of Tehran near Caspian C S Sea a. a the q quake ake destroyed f tes o of villages and towns burying of people in their homes f Bun Buildings collapsed as if they h y were were ere built from a deck of cards men frantically clawed at f Debris f from flattened concrete build- build io- io iod d gs in miles northwest rf Tehran Rescuers marked in white t pulled dust covered bodies ff Lom m under concrete slabs Grieving women men wailed nearby Corpses were laid 11 f l on blocks of ice in open trucks while others lay wrapped in white f th unclaimed beside a road Thursdays quake r registered g sered bem be- be tv tween en 73 and 77 on the he Richter m s le w ith measures energy r released ased by an earthquake A quake magnitude S jina it de 5 S can n cause caus consider consider- ii Q-e- Q damage while one oze of mag- mag t 1 de 6 can c cause us severe damage Bran's Brans ir ran ns n's s. s rat latest death ath t toll l surpassed pa sed a at q ke t that killed people in w eby by Soviet Armenia enia in Dece December ber 1988 and a quake ir in lii Iran in iIi 1978 that at also killed e toll was the highest since rr ly 28 1976 when at an estimated Q people w were rg killed kill a i jn SIn io China l by Ya a quake measuring 78 78 82 on the fRi ht ter r scale P last sf w week k powerful we ul after after- aftershocks sho shocks jolted ed previously dev devastated at d. d q h hraIl Iran raIl triggering g a a. a landslide l sli l th that t 1 J th the rO road iU linking U this shattered that shat te l to town t to the Caspian 1 Sea e coast st llie hundreds d eds of after ther shocks which J N Vf d t j i ia Ir Iran n. n ate are e endangering hd ng I g. g l the relief e f t t 7 i U.- U. I 0 1 fr The sharp dec decline rne of f survivors s pulled from the rubble Jubbie r has dis discouraged discouraged dis' dis ma many y Rescuers are becoming becom becom- ing ingless less optimistic The stench of death hangs over the r region like a thunder cloud Along l with the SO OO deaths head Dead of cattle were also ki killed ed by the the- thee e earthquake it quake Health officials officials of of- were were trying to o dispose of the rotting carcasses fearing contamination contamina contamina- tion of water supplies and the spread of ot infectious diseases Air f force ce helicopters hovered over inaccessible inaccessible inaccessible inac inac- villages and towns spraying disinfectant to suppress any potential potential potential poten poten- diseases However officials at the U US U.S. S Centers for Disease control in Atlanta Atlan Atlan- ta said the fears were unfounded They said diseases such as typhoid and Cholera do not occur after dis dis- asters These precautions were need need- less A US U.S. plane landed in Iran with pounds of US U.S. aid aid id 5 ing bandages antiseptic burn cr cream ami and tents tents collected collected by a private te relief organization based fl New Canaan Connecticut This was the first overt US U.S. ship- ship kind to be accepted by Iran since the hostage crisis of 1980 when 52 si American hostages were h held ld at the US U.S. Embassy in Tehran f for r days The two nations have no diplomatic diplomat U ties Iran's Iran p UN U.N. N ambassador ambassador am am- Kamal acknowledged acknowledged acknowledged ledged help from the United States and said the disaster may create a better atmosphere be between een Iranian and American peoples Glo Global al aid is flooding Iran The e Foreign Ministry said that due du to the magnitude e of f the disaster Iran Irano r n would o accept cc pt all such aid ald Iran ac accepts ac- ac cep s the e assistance of all foreign countries except eXcept- Israel and South South- Mil Africa a said Deputy For Foreign ign Mini Mini- Q 1 t |