The pre-dawn quake measured 6.3 on the Richter scale.

About 70 percent of the historic city, a popular tourist spot some 1,000 km southeast of the capital, Tehran, was leveled and many residents were feared trapped underground.

Iran has a history of earthquakes that kill thousands of people, including one of magnitude 7.3 that killed about 50,000 people in northwest Iran in 1990.

The Japan Times Weekly: Jan. 3, 2004
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