Iran Quake Toll Tops 500

Rescue teams using dogs and heavy machinery pulled more bodies from the ruins of flattened villages in central Iran on Wednesday, raising the death toll from a powerful earthquake to at least 500. The toll was expected to rise even higher.

Teams were hampered by bad weather and the mountainous terrain, working in a cold, heavy rain after a night in which temperatures dropped below freezing.

Mohammad Javad Fadaei, deputy governor of Kerman province, said more bodies had been discovered. "The death toll is now 500, and there's a possibility that the figure will increase," he told The Associated Press. At least 900 people were injured.

Many survivors huddled in tents, trying to escape the chill, after the magnitude 6.4 struck early Tuesday, damaging some 40 villages with a population of 30,000 people and leaving many homeless. Rescue workers were still digging out survivors and bodies in the three most isolated villages.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed his "deep grief and sorrow" over the deaths and offered his condolences to the victims' families, urging rescue workers to speed up their efforts.

U.S. President George W. Bush also expressed his condolences. "The United States stands ready to assist the people of Iran in responding to this tragedy, and we will be in contact with the government of Iran to offer concrete help," a written statement from the White House said.

The Iranian government — which shuns direct contacts with the United States — has so far not asked directly for international help. Still, the Japanese government announced Wednesday that it would send blankets, tents and other aid to help quake victims.

"It has been raining and gotten cold there and many houses collapsed," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said, hinting Japan may provide additional support. "We would like to monitor the situation and talk further with the Iranian government."

The Iranian Army said a crisis center has been established to assist with relief and that a number of aircraft had been used to haul aid from Tehran to Kerman airport.

The quake struck a region 150 miles from Bam, site of a devastating earthquake in December 2003 that killed 26,000 people and leveled the historic city.

The temblor was centered on the outskirts of Zarand, a town of about 15,000 people in Kerman province about 600 miles southeast of the capital Tehran, Iran's geological authority said.

Though comparable in strength to the 6.6-magnitude Bam quake, Tuesday's quake hit a more sparsely populated area and was centered far deeper — some 25 miles compared to six miles for Bam — limiting the damage.

Still, the tiny villages that dot the central mountains — most of them made of fragile mud brick — were hard hit. In Douheieh, every building except a mosque with a golden dome had collapsed. At least 80 percent of the buildings in Sarbagh were leveled.

Residents of Khanook village carried bodies to the morgue for washing before burial. Others crowded around lists of the dead posted on the morgue's wall, breaking into cries if they found a relative's name.

"I lost everything. All my life is gone," sobbed Asghar Owldi, 60, his face bandaged. His wife and two children were killed.

Residents dug the ground with bare hands and shovels in the hope of a finding family members alive. Later bulldozers moved in, along with rescue teams and helicopters, but most of those uncovered were found dead.