‘I Am Alive’: Survivors of Iran Earthquake Mourn as Government Scrambles to Help<br />14, 2017<br />KUIK-E HASAN, Iran — In Kuik-e Hasan, a village of 800 people in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains, Moadel Yari, 35, stood biting his lip as he recited the names<br />of the family members lost: "Amin, Hajar, Toba, Hajin, Abdellah, Boshra, Ozve, Somron." Iranians living near the border with Iraq are accustomed to earthquakes.<br />The country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called the quake "a divine test for officials and Iranians," one<br />that will determine "if they can carry out their duties." President Hassan Rouhani visited the region and stopped in the worst-hit city, Sarpol-e Zahab, promising more help and low-interest loans to developers to rebuild collapsed apartment complexes.<br />Pouria Gorji said that We want to make sure these people get the help they need,<br />There are more than 530 dead, a massive loss in itself,<br />but coming to terms with so much death — and the damage to so many structures, in a region of small villages and towns, all at the same time — was that much harder.<br />The government is overwhelmed." "Let’s be honest, we don’t have proper crisis management,<br />but we always send a lot of people to help," said Nader Karimi Joni, a journalist.<br />But for the people in this region the struggle was more elemental — many are living in tents, huddled against the biting cold.
