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The World Federation is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations
Vision Statement
The World Federation
exists to achieve the
pleasure of Allah SWT by
developing spiritual and
vibrant communities
serving humanity
Mission Statement
The World Federation
enables its member institutions
to promote the
values and practices of the
Islamic Shia Ithna Asheri
Faith for the spiritual and
material well being of
humanity at large
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South-East Iran hit with its second major earthquake in a week
Updated 17 April 2013
 On Tuesday 16 April, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake which lasted 40 seconds hit near the south-eastern city of Khash, close to the Pakistan border. This is the second earthquake to strike Iran in a week, and was the most powerful earthquake in more than 50 years, with tremors felt in Pakistan, India and the Middle East.
The earthquake was about 180 times stronger in energy release than a 6.3-magnitude quake that struck on 9 April near the nuclear plant at Bushehr in south-western Iran. That quake killed at least 37 people and wounded 850.
Tuesday’s earthquake struck in the province of Sistan Baluchistan close the cities of Khash which has a population of almost 180,000 and Saravan with a population of around 250,000. Sistan Baluchistan is Iran's biggest province and one its most impoverished areas.
Because the quake struck deep and in the desert away from population centres there were no fatalities, although there were injuries reported as there are 1,700 villages in the area, where most of the buildings were made of mud and many people live in tents.
All communications in the area have been cut and rescuers and assessment and evaluation teams from the Iranian Red Crescent Society have been dispatched, the Iranian Red Crescent's Mahmoud Mozaffar told state television.
Across the border in Pakistan, the town of Mashkel with a population of 45,000 was worst affected, where 34 people were killed and 80 were injured, the army said. A Pakistani police officer, Azmatullah Regi, said nearly three dozen homes and shops collapsed in one village in the Mashkel area. Rescue workers pulled the bodies of a couple and their three children, aged 5 to 15, from the rubble of one house, he said.
More than 50 shops have been destroyed and several homes have collapsed. The quake was felt in Karachi and Quetta as well. Offices were evacuated in Karachi, Pakistan, in the Indian capital of Delhi, and in several Gulf cities, including the record 828-meter (2,717 -foot) Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
For further information email secretariat@world-federation.org
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