3. - usaid

Description of What Happened
The region ripped asunder is a harsh land of desert and dust storms and
mud-brick villages of farmers linked by primitive roads. It was an area
unpretentious but thriving. Its farmers grew corn, kuit, and saff'ron.
The last day of August was a hot Saturday af'ternoon. The dry dusty plains
and the occasional mountains that rise sporadically f'rom the flats that are
a part of the physiographic characteristics of the Gonabad-Kakh farm areas
gave no advance warning of the megaton of energy soon to be released. Some
400 of the inhabitants of the town of Kakh had gone to the local mosque for
prayer. Many women and children were taking a mid-day respite, remaw~ng
indoors to enjoy the coolness of their homes. The houses, some with
cellars whose lower temperatures created by the cave-like composition of
dried mud-brick walls and roofs, are a favorite resting pla.ce. Many o:r
the men were out in the fields. Suddenly, according to several of the
survivors, "the very mountain trembled--it rumbled iike thunder. Kakh ,
a town of 6,000 people, had in a few moments over 1200 of its people dead,
including all but a few of the 400 attending prayers in the mosque. The
earth quieted. The dust settled. Kakh no longer existed.
Other towns or villages totally destroyed were Dasht-e-Biaz and Beinabad.
Destruction and fatalities were extremely heavy in Khezri. Numerous other
villages and towns suffered to varying degrees. Piles of rubble representing
the remains of homes, sticks marking temporary graves, were comnon
sights in Kakh, Dasht-e-Biaz, parts of Gonabad, and many smaller villages.
Some villages, such as Nowbahar and Gudarz, were half destroyed but,
fostlrnately , did not suffer heavy casualties. The major towns of Torbat
Heidarieh and Torbat Jam
escaped relatively unscathed
with only a few shops and
homes destroyed. The mirm?et
in the Sheikh Jam mosque at
Torbat Jam toppled, and the
mosque at Torbat Heidarieh was
partially destroyed.
Destroyed home and survivor at
Gonab ad
The second earthquake, of
severe destructive proportions
but of less magnitude than
the first, occurred at about
11 o'clock Sunday morning,
less than 24 hours af'ter the
initial disaster. The epi--
center was due west of Dasht-e-
Biaz. Ferdows, a quiet, ti?ee