Conflicting reports on the death toll of the earthquake, which hit Iran Saturday morning, were heard on Sunday while rescue workers sped up their operations in a bid toretrieve those buried under debris.
Iran's official IRNA news agency earlier said at least 500 people were killed and over 2,000 others injured, while an Iranian Interior Ministry statement, carried by the state television, revised the death toll down to around 230.
Iranian Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari, assigned by President Mohammad Khatami to take care of all major post-tremor issues, on Sunday visited the deadly quake-stricken areas and gave directives to speed up rescue operations, the state radio reported.
Rescue workers in the quake-hit villages of Changuleh and Abdarreh and the town of Avaj in Qazvin Province, said that round-the-clock operations are underway to shelter the people in tents inthe mountainous area, which is relatively chilly at night.
Images of flattened houses appeared on the state television, showing that houses built mainly with bricks and mud are hardly able to sustain the devastating tremor.
Local people and military personnel, including voluntary force, have taken part in the rescue operation, which is expected to end on Monday.
Family-size tents have been set up in quake-hit areas to accommodate people who lost home and properties, while sniffer dogsroamed around debris and tried to find bodies from the rubble.
The strong quake, measuring 6.3 degree (formerly announced 5.2) on the open-ended Richter scale, shook northern and northwestern Iran at 7:28 a.m. local time (0258 GMT) on Saturday morning, with over 20 aftershocks measuring between 4.1 and 5.2 degrees.
The epicenter was in the city of Bouin Zahra in the northwesternprovince of Qazvin. More than 20 villages in the province have beenaffected, leaving some 12,000 people homeless. About 20 villages inthe western Hamedan Province were also destroyed.
In 1963, a deadly earthquake hit the same area, killing 12,225 people.
Following Saturday's tragic event, Iran's Supreme Leader Seyyed Ali Khamenei has offered his condolences to the quake victims and called for swift assistance to the quake-affected people.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said in a statement that he "was saddened by the tragedy and wished to convey his condolences and deepest sympathy to the government of Iran and the victims of the disaster," according to the U.N. Information Center in Tehran.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) office in Tehran said on Sunday that the UNDP has set aside 50,000 U.S. dollars to aid victims of the earthquake, which was the hardest in recent years.
A group of UNDP experts was dispatched to the quake-stricken areas to assess the damage caused by the quake, and a delegation ofU.N. experts on natural disasters is expected to arrive in Iran from Geneva, switzerland.
In a more noteworthy move, U.S. President George W. Bush on Saturday offered humanitarian assistance to earthquake victims in Iran.
"Human suffering knows no political boundaries. We stand ready to assist the people of Iran as needed and as desired," Bush said in a statement.
The U.S. and Iranian governments have been at odds for the past 23 years since Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and took its staff hostage for 444 days.
Meanwhile, Pope John Paul II sent his prayers to the victims of the killer earthquake, and called for generous international response in the relief effort.
Leaders from China, Pakistan, Australia and other countries haveexpressed grief and sorrow over the massive Iran earthquake, which hit eight provinces in the country's northern and western parts.
Iran embraces a number of quake-prone zones. Tens of thousands of people were killed in Bouin Zahra in a strong earthquake in September 1984.
In 1990, a 7 plus Richter-degree earthquake hit northern provinces of Zanjan and Gilan, in which tens of thousands of peoplelost their lives.
Official reports have said that as of 1991 over 950 earthquakes have jolted Iran, claiming 17,600 lives and injuring 53,300 others.
(Xinhua News Agency June 24, 2002)
