Iran earthquake survivors, sleeping on rubble, ask for help

In a western Iranian town devastated by this week's powerful earthquake, families are sleeping on the rubble of their homes and were fashioning reed shelters to offer protection from the elements on Wednesday, saying authorities haven't delivered enough tents ahead of the fast-approaching winter.

A police officer distributes foods to earthquake survivors in Sarpol-e-Zahab, western Iran, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Icy rains will be coming soon to Sarpol-e-Zahab, hard hit by Sunday's 7.3 magnitude earthquake, which killed more than 530 people and injured thousands. Survivors in other towns and villages nestled in the Zagros Mountains face the same tough conditions, still awaiting badly needed aid three days later.

Iranian officials from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on down have urged quick distribution of supplies and relief material. However, logistical problems, alleged theft and other issues have plagued the response to the disaster in one of Iran's predominantly Kurdish regions.

An earthquake survivor recovers his belongings from debris of his collapsed house in Sarpol-e-Zahab, in western Iran, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

An earthquake survivor sits next to his belongings which are recovered from debris in Sarpol-e-Zahab in western Iran, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

"Our things are still in the house under the rubble, but nobody dares go and take them," survivor Shahla Rezaei said. "We went inside to grab children's school books and some other things but an aftershock hit and we had to escape."

Public order broke down in many areas as aid came in, with families not affected by the quake carting off aid intended for survivors, according to officials, who say police have been deployed to prevent further siphoning.

Many in the Kurdish town of Sarpol-e-Zahab, home to half the casualties from the temblor, told The Associated Press that they still have not received aid and that they need help to remove debris so they can retrieve essential belongings.

A group of earthquake survivors live in tents after their houses were collapsed in Sarpol-e-Zahab in western Iran, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A woman injured during the recent earthquake walks over debris of a collapsed house in Sarpol-e-Zahab in western Iran, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017.  (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Reports said more than 12,000 tents were distributed in the area, though more than 30,000 houses were affected by the quake — 15,500 of them completely destroyed. That forced some residents to construct reed huts.

Parastou Rezaei, a survivor and a mother of two, thanked those from other towns who came to give people blankets.

"We do not have enough tents," Rezaei said. "We have to make fire outside the tents at night and keep putting wood in it until morning to protect us from the cold."

Tofigh Merazi, a father of six, including a daughter with a broken leg in a cast, urged the government to provide some kind of shelter, even shipping containers.

"Look at the leg of this child. It is broken. Where should we take her?" he asked.

Earthquake survivors mourn in front of destroyed houses in Sarpol-e-Zahab in western Iran, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017.  (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Iranian state television showed people in Bam, where a magnitude 6.6 earthquake killed 26,000 people in 2003, offering ton of dates to those affected. However, tents appeared to be the primary need.

On Tuesday, Khamenei called for continued aid shipments to the area ahead of the "difficult cold season." Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli told an open session of parliament Wednesday that a total of 36,000 tents had been sent to the region, including those already distributed.

Authorities blamed the security situation on some aid not reaching those needing it. Morteza Salimi, of the Iranian Red Crescent, told state TV that despite there being enough aid, "there were some problems in distributing the relief. ... Safety and security were violated."

People clean away debris after a powerful earthquake in Sarpol-e-Zahab, in western Iran, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Earthquake survivors mourn in front of destroyed houses in Sarpol-e-Zahab in western Iran, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

State media made a point to circulate images and video of Bijan Namdar Zangeneh, Iran's oil minister who is a Kurd, visiting the region and speaking to those affected in Kurdish. Farsi remains the only governmentally recognized language in the country, though Kurdish and other minority languages are recognized at the provincial level and in local media.

Newly constructed government housing in the region, which was devastated by Iran's 1980s war with Iraq, collapsed. That's raised questions about that housing project, known as "Mehr" or "kindess" in Farsi, which was a cornerstone of hard-line former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's populist appeal. Ahmadinejad's supporters have dismissed the questions as a smear of his legacy.

The official IRNA news agency said 530 were killed while state TV put the number at 432. At least 100 people are believed to have been buried by families in rural villages without going to authorities for death certificates, which may explain the discrepancy.

An earthquake survivor speaks at her destroyed house in Sarpol-e-Zahab in western Iran, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

The quake injured 9,388 people, according to a Wednesday report by the state-run IRNA news agency.

The temblor hit about 19 miles (31 kilometers) outside the eastern Iraqi city of Halabja, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, and struck 14.4 miles (23.2 kilometers) below the surface, a somewhat shallow depth that can amplify the damage.

In Iraq, nine people were killed and 550 were injured, all in the country's northern Kurdish region, according to the United Nations.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A cluster of earthquakes struck the island republic of Taiwan early Tuesday, the strongest having a magnitude of 6.1, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

There were no reports of casualties in the quakes, although there were further damages to two multi-story buildings that had been evacuated following a magnitude 7.4 quake that hit the island earlier this month, killing 13 people and injuring over 1,000. That earthquake was centered along the coast of the rural and mountainous Hualien County.

It was the strongest earthquake in the past 25 years in Taiwan and was followed by hundreds of aftershocks. The quakes Tuesday's are considered the latest of those.

According to the USGS, Tuesday's quake of 6.1 magnitude had its epicenter 28 kilometers (17.5 miles) south of the city of Hualien, at a dept of 10.7 kilometers. The half-dozen other quakes ranged from magnitude 4.5 to magnitude 6, all near Hualien. Taiwan's own earthquake monitoring center put the magnitudes of the initial quake at 6.3. Such small discrepancies are common between monitoring stations.

The largest among them were two earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 and 6.3 that occurred at 2:26 a.m. and 2:32 a.m. Tuesday, respectively, according to the Taiwan center. Numerous of the scores of aftershocks could be felt on the upper floors of a apartment buildings in the capital Taipei, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) across steep mountains to the northwest.

The Full Hotel in downtown Hualien partially collapsed during the quakes and was left leaning at a severe angle, However, it had been undergoing renovations and was unoccupied at the time. The nearby Tong Shuai Building was also empty, having been marked for demolition after being heavily damaged in the April 3 quake.

Schools and offices in Hualien and the surrounding county were ordered closed on Tuesday as hundreds of aftershocks continued to strike on land and just off the coast in the Pacific Ocean, the vast majority below magnitude 3. Authorities advised anyone whose home had been damaged in the last quake to move out until the aftershocks subsided, and some decided to wait in their cars.

Rock slides closed a section of road in the rugged Taroko Gorge, where several hikers lost their lives in the April 3 quake. Although train service from Taipei to Hualien was suspended, the disruption to traffic was minimal and the road, provincial highway 8, was expected to be cleared by Wednesday. Cracks opened on some walkways and bridges and some tiles fell from exterior walls, but damage was only slight.

Taiwan is no stranger to powerful earthquakes yet their toll on the high-tech island’s 23 million residents has been relatively contained thanks to its excellent earthquake preparedness, experts say. The island also has strict construction standards and widespread public education campaigns about earthquakes.

In 1999, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake in Taiwan killed 2,400 people.

Taiwan lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” the line of seismic faults encircling the Pacific Ocean from South America to Japan, Indonesia and New Zealand, along with most of the world’s earthquakes occur. Quakes, often with their epicenters in the Pacific, are a near-daily occurrence on the island, where they are often referred to as “the movement of the earth cattle.”

Taiwan's Cabinet has set aside more than $20 billion Taiwan Dollars ($614.9 million) for relief and reconstruction following the April 3 quake.

In this image from a video, roads in Hualien, Taiwan are cordoned off after a cluster of earthquakes struck the island early Tuesday, April 23, 2024. There were no reports of casualties in the quakes, although there were further damages to two multi-story buildings that had been evacuated following a magnitude 7.4 quake that hit the island earlier this month, killing 13 people and injuring over 1,000. (TVBS via AP)

In this image from a video, roads in Hualien, Taiwan are cordoned off after a cluster of earthquakes struck the island early Tuesday, April 23, 2024. There were no reports of casualties in the quakes, although there were further damages to two multi-story buildings that had been evacuated following a magnitude 7.4 quake that hit the island earlier this month, killing 13 people and injuring over 1,000. (TVBS via AP)

In this image from a video, roads in Hualien, Taiwan are cordoned off after a cluster of earthquakes struck the island early Tuesday, April 23, 2024. There were no reports of casualties in the quakes, although there were further damages to two multi-story buildings that had been evacuated following a magnitude 7.4 quake that hit the island earlier this month, killing 13 people and injuring over 1,000. (TVBS via AP)

In this image from a video, roads in Hualien, Taiwan are cordoned off after a cluster of earthquakes struck the island early Tuesday, April 23, 2024. There were no reports of casualties in the quakes, although there were further damages to two multi-story buildings that had been evacuated following a magnitude 7.4 quake that hit the island earlier this month, killing 13 people and injuring over 1,000. (TVBS via AP)

In this image from a video, roads in Hualien, Taiwan are cordoned off after a cluster of earthquakes struck the island early Tuesday, April 23, 2024. There were no reports of casualties in the quakes, although there were further damages to two multi-story buildings that had been evacuated following a magnitude 7.4 quake that hit the island earlier this month, killing 13 people and injuring over 1,000. (TVBS via AP)