41.   International and domestic aid was needed in the stricken areas, it said in a statement.

42.   It has been extremely difficult for aid workers to reach the stricken area, which lies in rugged, snowbound mountains.

43.   It said rescue teams with bulldozers and army personnel carriers were dispatched to the stricken areas.

44.   It said people in the stricken area need tents, mattresses, blankets, clothes and shoes.

45.   Medical supplies, food and treated water has been rushed to the stricken areas.

46.   More doctors have been sent to the stricken areas to help stem the spread and also provide the villagers with information about the affliction, he said.

47.   Murayama also was making his second visit to the stricken area.

48.   On roads leading to stricken areas, dozens of ambulances rushed the injured to hospitals.

49.   Officials dispatched tents and winter clothing to the stricken area as nighttime temperatures plunged well below freezing.

50.   On Monday, Zargar toured the stricken area and complained that some of the government buildings in Khorasan Province were not properly engineered to withstand earthquakes.