Officials say the death toll from an earthquake which struck southeast Iran this week has risen to 612, up from 602. The announcement on 26th February came from Mohammad Ali Karimi, governor of the affected Kerman province. The quake last Tuesday was centered on the town of Zarand, about 700 kilometers southeast of Tehran. The 6.4 magnitude earthquake levelled several remote mountain villages and left thousands homeless. The quake occurred just 14 months after an earthquake in the city of Bam, in Kerman province, killed more than 30,000 people.