QESHM ISLAND, Iran, 29 November 2005 — Aid workers handed out blankets and food yesterday to thousands of people on the Iranian Gulf island of Qeshm left homeless by an earthquake which destroyed a dozen villages and killed at least 10 people.
Sunday’s tremor, with a magnitude of at least 5.9, injured scores more, stretching the capacity of the island’s main hospital. Fearful of aftershocks, most of Qeshm’s residents slept in cars, tents or in the open air overnight.
It was the second fatal earthquake this year in Iran, which is crisscrossed by major fault lines. But aid workers said the death toll was relatively low since it occurred in the early afternoon when most people were out of their homes.
Qeshm, the biggest island in the Gulf, is a free-trade zone in southern Hormuzgan province with a population of about 120,000. It is famed for its palm forests and its beaches are much loved by tourists and nesting sea turtles.
Regional Gov. Heidar Alishvandi said 12 of Qeshm’s villages had incurred damages of up to 80 percent. “Some 1,000 survivors have been sheltered out of 2,000 who need shelter because their homes have been ruined,” he told IRNA.
