The toll of dead and injured continues to mount after a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the mountainous Iran-Pakistan border region Tuesday, though conflicting reports of the casualties have masked the full extent of the damage.
Reports from Iranian news outlets and government officials initially stated 40 people were killed in Iran from the quake, but the report was later retracted. The latest reports from Iran indicate one dead and 27 injured. Media reports indicate 34 were killed in one Pakistani town, where at least 1,000 homes were destroyed and at least 150 injured.
The quake, centered near the Iranian city of Khash, was so strong it was felt across the nearby border in Pakistan as well as in India and throughout parts of the Middle East. Tremors were reportedly felt as far away as New Delhi, India, some 2,250 km (1,398 miles) away.
Iran, a country quite prone to earthquakes because of its location at the intersection of major tectonic plates, has not seen an earthquake of this magnitude in 35 years when a 1978 earthquake in Tabas killed 15,000.
An Associated Press report speculated that the number of dead in Iran is being kept under wraps because another strong quake last week killed at least 37 and injured at least 850, and officials want to downplay the extend of the recent earthquake casualties.
Fatality and casualty reports from Pakistan have been clearer, while reports from Iran continue to be murky. An Iranian official quoted by Reuters said they were expecting hundreds of dead.
All communications to the region have reportedly been severed.
Very few people live near the epicenter, according to Earthquake-Report, but hundreds of thousands live within 100 km (62 miles) of the center.
The quake struck at a depth of 82 km (51 miles) at 3:14 p.m. local time near the cities of Khash, population 290,000 and Saravan, with 173,000 residents, according to data from Earthquake-Report.
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