LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - It's estimated that there are at least 227 people dead with more than 2,000 wounded, Massive earthquakes struck the cities of Ahar and Varzaghan this past Saturday. Iran's Fars News Agency reports the number of dead to be 300.

"There are no people left to recover from under the rubble in any village, and all necessary aid is currently being distributed," Interior Ministry Official of Disaster Management Hossein Ghadami reported on state television.

Water and shelter is being provided to the affected people. Thousands of people have huddled in makeshift tents or slept in streets after this past weekend's quakes in fear of more aftershocks.

Officials say that shelters were distributed this past Sunday and a field hospital was set up in Varzaghan, one of the hardest hit towns 60 kilometers from Tabriz.

"You see, no help has reached our area from the outside - a limited amount of help has reached us from Ardabil," Abbas Fallah, a parliamentary representative for Ahar and nearby Heris, said, pleading for help. The supplies that people have received haven't been nearly enough.

Emphasizing that Ahar and Heris were not hard to reach, Fallah begged individuals for tents, dried food, hot food and mineral water in lieu of leaving it up to any organization.
 
Hospitals in Tabriz, Ardabil and other cities nearby took in many of the injured. There are long lines of survivors waiting to be treated.

"There are about 133 villages that have been damaged, 92 groups from Red Cross society are actually there, and there is presence of over 100 ambulances. Also air force is providing about six helicopters," Spokesperson Pouya Hiajain of the Red Crescent Society of Iran said.

"Also 5,000 tents have been set up, items like food and equipment and blankets have been distributed," he said.

"Some countries like Turkey, Pakistan and Taiwan have given us sympathy, but currently there is no need for help from international community," Hiajain said.

The National Iranian American Council has reached out to the White House, U.S. state and treasury departments, seeking a "general license to be issued to exempt relief efforts from current U.S. sanctions. The U.S. government, the group said in a statement, is "actively looking into and preparing for the most appropriate response."

Emergency teams are relying on radios and travelled in person to hard-hit villages to rescue and assess the destruction, as telephone services are down in the many affected areas.

The earthquakes, which hit on Saturday within 11 minutes of each other, measured 6.2 and 6.0, according to Tehran University's Seismological Center.

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