3. - usaid

Many frightened villagers left
their homes. They camped outside
the walled areas. The air was
cold and the victims were badly
in need of blankets and warm
clothing. In many villages the
inhabitants also suffered from
thirst. Wells, undergroimd
canals, and water source:j had
been damaged and were no't
working.
Rescue workers pulled from under
the rubble many victims still in
the positions they had been in
Survivors at a relief camp when death overtook them. One
lifeless woman held her child
in her m; another sat in the
corner of her room in the act
of feeding her child. In an extraordinary case, an elderly woman and her
three-year old grandson were pulled out alive 48 hours after the quake
struck. She was reading the Koran when rescuers reached her. The child
was crying for food. One eyewitness told of a 59-year old villager,
Mohammad Khodai, in Kakh. Khodai was found kneeling beside a mound of
dust and broken wooden poles, unable to speak at first. When speech
returned to him he said his whole family lay beneath what had been his
patriarchal home. They were his five sons, two daughters, their children
and grandchildren, numbering 32 persons in all. Another eyewitness
described the devastated regions as "like a moon scene."
Of the 4,040 people injured, 1,000 required hospitalization. This is
considered a low injury rate against the 10,000 deaths . Most of those
who were injured had to be treated for broken bones. Only a few of the
injured died.
The villagers lost their families, their homes, and all their belongings.
Cattle and mules were buried under the debris. Until suitable equipment
could be moved in, men and women toiled with picks and spades to dig out
the victims. In some areas, with no hand tools available, survivors tore
at the rubble with their hands. Many of the villages had no roads of' any
sort leading to them. This slowed the pace for bringing in help. Mercy
teams were not able to reach the villages of Kashak, Espian, Fathabad,
Nardaban, and others until Tuesday morning, September 3. The distances
between the quake-stricken areas and between them and Meshed were an
additional complication. The Gonabad airstrip was severely damaged. Some
repairs were made 48 hours after the quake, but as of June 1969 satisfactory
landing strips had not yet been completed.
The devastated area faced the post earthquake dangers of contaminated water,
exposure to weather, and outbreak of disease. Schools and public places,