THE death toll from an earthquake which rocked north west Iran soared to nearly 1,000 yesterday as rescuers set up tents and distributed food and blankets to tens of thousands of people left homeless.
The official IRNA news agency said Friday's quake, which struck Ardabil province and Iranian Azerbaijan, killed at least 965 people and injured 2,600.
The casualty toll had earlier been put at 600 dead and 2,500 injured.
Around 40,000 people lost their homes in the quake, which measured 5.5 degrees on the Richter scale.
IRNA reported that an earthquake measuring 5.1 degrees on the Richter scale hit the Bojnurd region of north eastern Iran yesterday but there were no reports of fresh casualties.
State run Tehran radio earlier said another tremor on Sunday and its aftershocks destroyed some buildings in areas already damaged on Friday, prompting residents to flee their homes in tear.
"Power has been cut in most towns and villages," it said.
The quake struck at 4:32 p.m., causing damage to structures already weakened by a February 4th quake which left around 80 people dead and hundreds injured in the region, it said.
The epicentre was 250 km north west of the main city of Mashhad in Khorasan province. Bojnurd is situated near the border with Turkmenistan.
Friday's quake in Ardabil destroyed or seriously damaged at least 110 villages and Iranian radio said yesterday relief and rescue work was continuing in the snow bound region near the Caspian Sea.
Hundreds of aftershocks and heavy snow "complicated" the rescue effort, the radio said, and another strong earthquake shook Ardabil province late on Sunday, cutting off electricity to the area and causing further damage.
It said the quake which registered 5.2 degrees on the Richter scale, was felt strongly in Ardabil and towns in the vicinity. The radio did not say if that quake had caused any casualties.
On Sunday afternoon, two aftershocks rattled Ardabil, triggering panic among the population. More than 300 minor tremors have been recorded since Friday's quake.
The Iranian Red Crescent Society director, Mr Vahid Dastjerdi, told state radio his organisation had dispatched 5,000 rescuers to quake stricken areas.
Another Red Crescent official said 8,700 tents had been provided along with 21,800 blankets, 15,300 stoves, 50 tonnes of dates and 80 tonnes of bread.
Mr Hojatoleslam Ghayuri, who was sent to Ardabil by Iran's paramount leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, urged families in the city to open their homes to the victims until the government finishes rebuilding their houses.
He said on state television that tents did not provide much protection from the sub zero temperatures, snow and strong winds in the area.
President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was expected to visit the quake hit area today while the Interior Minister, Mr Ali Mohammad Besharati, said the government would use all its resources to rebuild the region.
Mosques were being transformed into makeshift dormitories or distribution centres in Ardabil and other towns in the impoverished farming region, reputedly one of the coldest in the quake prone country.
"We have organised the distribution of bread, blankets, canned food, biscuits and tents," said a Moslem cleric, Khodabakhsh AliZadeh.
A United Nations source here said the UN office in Tehran sent a team to the area yesterday to assess the extent of the damage and casualties from the quake.
The source told AFP the world body would launch an appeal for international assistance for victims of the quake.
UN representatives would attend a meeting at the foreign ministry today to discuss relief assistance for the victims, the source said.
The officials are to prepare a list of items which could be provided by external donors.