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Worse and worse

16 comments on Worse and worse

Worse and worse
: Good God. The toll in Iran’s earthquake is rising to 20,000, Reuters now says.

Others have noted that the severity of the quake was equivalent to that in California a few days ago. (Update: I stand corrected. The comments reveal that the Iran quake was .3 higher on the Richter scale and increases in the scale are exponential.)

: Pedram has another suggestion for where to send contributions.

: Here is a press release from the charity Pedram recommends, Mercy Corps.

: Keep returning to Iranian Truth for excellent links and updates.

16 responses to “Worse and worse”

  1. Faramin Avatar
    Faramin

    The severity of the quake was 0.3 higher than what California’s was.
    On sevity so high every 0.1 on richter scale make a tremendous diffrenece on the impact of the quake.

  2. Pedram Avatar
    Pedram

    Unconfirmed reports have reported even higher numbers. Please donate what you can to Mercy Corps at http://www.mercycorps.org
    (thanks Jeff)

  3. CharlesWT Avatar
    CharlesWT

    Yes, the Iranian quake was about twice as intense as the California quake

  4. Ben Keen Avatar
    Ben Keen

    It’s true this earthquake was twice as intense, but the main cause of fatalities is construction practices. It’s worthwhile to compare to the recent earthquake in Turkey, and that in Kobe, Japan.

  5. Mohammad Shahi Avatar
    Mohammad Shahi

    This is probably one of the safest ways to make a donation and be sure it will be put in hands of the victims of this disastrous earthquake:
    http://www.ifrc.org/HELPNOW/donate/donate_iran.asp
    I donated $100. I wish I could afford more. Please help!
    Thank you.

  6. Steve Horwitz Avatar
    Steve Horwitz

    Ben’s point about construction is quite right. I’d just put it another way: one of the signs of social wealth is the drop in fatalities associated with natural disasters in the Western world. Capitalism has enabled us to have the wealth to build safely, while the lesser developed parts of the world cannot afford to do so, with results such as those we’ve seen today. For those who think capitalism is a heartless killer, think again.

  7. Larry Everett Avatar
    Larry Everett

    Steve H.,
    The problem isn’t capitalism, or lack of it. It’s corruption. Everyone gets their cut, top to bottom, from the time a project is in the planning stage to the end of construction. As an example, cement is a high rip-off item. As a result, mortar is expensive to the end user and made up mostly of sand.
    I used to walk down the streets and run a finger between the brick, or whatever, of the buildings. Almost every time I did this, I could easily scoop the mortar from out between the joints.
    Laws, rules, and logic, if they’re applied, also save lives.

  8. Faramin Avatar
    Faramin

    Steve Horvitz and Larry Everett,
    You both might be right in what you are saying. But please don’t make political statements at the time when people need urgent help.
    Keep your capitalism and enjoy it as much as you want. But now, every negative comment that you are making is inhumaune and deters people from helping. If this is what you want, you are doing a good job otherwise, let’s talk about this when the urgency is not there anymore.
    then I will have similar things to say about corruption in Iran and in the US.
    BTW, Iran is also the result of Shah’s capitalism. Iran is a capitalist country.

  9. Mohammad Shahi Avatar
    Mohammad Shahi

    Steve,
    It’s so annoying to hear that some arrogant Westerner finds a clue to ridiculously promote capitalism and Western wealth(or any other irrelevant subject) when a nation is facing a disaster. Where was capitalism when two airplanes ruined the lives of several thousands of Americans in Sept.11th? But exactly at the same time as capitalism was confused and lost in the ruins of the towers and money wasn’t even able to buy a single moment of the lives of the victims of that tragedy, the same nation, whose miserable destination was partly related to capitalism, sympathized with a capitalist nation although it was under pressure not to.
    I do agree with you that more lives could be saved if better homes were made. But apparently you don’t know that in Bam, a city in the heart of desert, soil is gold. Homes are traditionally made of mud and straw. Economic issues hasn’t let these people make the best homes out of the best materials. All they have is soil and date. Now take a look at what you see in TV. Pictures of a dead Bam. What do you see? Generosity of capitalism? No. All you can see is sand and palm trees. Now Bam will be a huge grave that will house 20,000 dead bodies. And Bam will be Bam once again: soil and palm trees.
    YOU think again.

  10. Iran4dummies Avatar
    Iran4dummies

    This is really sad, once again Government failed in the Risk Management. I wonder how MR. Shamkhani claims that we are ready for Isral Attack? when we are short in blood for infiusion and no medical supports in BAM!!!!
    Please help folks

  11. Iran4dummies Avatar
    Iran4dummies

    This is really sad, once again Government failed in the Risk Management. I wonder how MR. Shamkhani claims that we are ready for Isral Attack? when we are short in blood for infiusion and no medical supports in BAM!!!!
    Please help folks

  12. Andrea Harris Avatar
    Andrea Harris

    Oh yay. Down With Arrogant Western Capitalists! Better now? And now that we’ve got that out of our system… (By the way, soil cannot possibly be gold in that region; if it were, people would have piled it up in warehouses built out of some other, even more abundant and easy-to-obtain substance.) All recriminations aside, there is no escaping the fact that badly-built structures collapse more easily in earthquakes than do structures built to earthquake-resistant specifications. The reason why so many parts of the world have this problem is not due to abstracts like Western hegemony, but to very real things like poverty (duh — poor people can’t afford sturdy homes), corruption in the local system (sorry, patriots and laissez-faire business promoters, but it’s true) and lack of consistently-enforced building regulations (sorry, free-market guys, that’s true too). The same problems led to the large number of deaths in the last big earthquake in Ankara, Turkey. If we could leave behind the sniping for an instance, maybe we could realize that one of the contributions that is needed for Bam and other communities in earthquake-prone areas is for some rich, Western company to donate experts and material to help rebuild (and build up) the city to modern earthquake-resistant standards. And no, this will not raise one child from the dead.

  13. MommaBear Avatar
    MommaBear

    And the mullahs, in their crazed insistance on religious control, have banned ANY aid from any “Zionist” group, regardless if they have skills to rescue people; they would rather see people die under the rubble than let one shekel of help come from Israel. Is that sick, or what ?!

  14. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Faramin,
    “…But please don’t make political statements at the time when people need urgent help.”
    Is Iran excepting help from Israel ?
    “…BTW, Iran is also the result of Shah’s capitalism. Iran is a capitalist country.”
    The monarchy was abolished in 1979 when a revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini forced Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi into exile, and established an Islamic Republic in its place. It has now been 24 years since the revolution and I have yet to see any movement toward capitalism.
    “… every negative comment that you are making is inhumaune”
    I seem to remember Iranians celebrating when the twin towers in New York went down killing almost three thousand people.
    “…then I will have similar things to say about corruption in Iran and in the US.”
    I think you have stated your case quite well already. You may find yourself talking to an empty room.

  15. Jeff Jarvis Avatar
    Jeff Jarvis

    Anonymous chicken person who couldn’t even bother to make up a name….
    I don’t recall Iranians rising as one to celebrate 9/11. Quite the contrary: I remember shows of support for us.
    Folks: This is not the time or the story for political retribution. This is a human tragedy. Period. Period! Have a heart, huh?

  16. Faramin Avatar
    Faramin

    Ananymous person,
    I think there is no need for me to reply now, but I do anyway.
    What Jeff is saying is true, Iranians showed their anger toward the criminal act of attacking the towers and killing thousands of civilans. You sure have a twisted memory.
    Yes, Iran (government)does not accept help from Israel. What does it have to do with me? I have said it before, that rejection of help from ANYWHERE is nothing but ignoring the urgent need of the victims. I do not wish to defend Iranian government’s actions. I am in “exile” because of those actions that have been mostly criminal.
    Now make a donation please, will you?