Though the death toll was high it would have undoubtedly been much higher had the quake occured during the night. Since it occured in the early afternoon, most people were outside. This minimized the number of people killed by collapsing buildings.

In all, approximately 1560 people were killed in the earthquake. Exact numbers are elusive. This is a very remote region of Iran. It is difficult for even the Iranian government to get accurate figures when damage is spread over such a region. Getting good figures outside the country is further complicated by poor communication channels and the potential of the Iranian government announcing misleading figures for political gain. In the days following the quake, the pro-government newspaper Resalat claimed as many as 4,000 people had been killed. Only later was this figure reduced to 1560. Likewise, the initial number of injuries reported by the government as 6,000, was reduced to 2,810 after several days.

A day after the quake, survivors were still being found among the collapsed buildings. When 32 year old Alireza Rayee was pulled from the crumbled remains of a building after being trapped for 27 hours, his mother exclaimed that "God has given my son a second life" as she help him and wept. Mr. Rayee was quoted as saying he thoughts he was going to die, "but I prayed all the time that I was under there and God answered my prayers".

110 young girls were killed when the their elementary school collapsed. The girls were buried under the piles of broken concrete and twisted steel. Earthquakes which occur during the day are generally considered to be less deadly because most people are outside instead of in their homes. However, schools are often a gruesome exception.

The Islamic News Agency reported that 400 people died during or soon after the quake in Birjand.

Earthquakes are blind to national borders. The May 10th, 1997 event caused damage across the border in Afgahnistan. The western portions of Afgahnistan are largely inaccessible. It took a couple days for international aid workers to reach the more remote parts of this country. Afgahnistan is no stranger to earthquakes but years of civil war and a massive influx of refugees have ravaged the infrastructure and burdened a weakened system. These factors quickly multiply the effects of a quake. Five people were reported killed by the quake but this is undoubtedly an underestimate.

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Last update: October 1, 1998