Powerful Earthquake Strikes in Iran

TEHRAN — A powerful earthquake that struck southeastern Iran was felt in several countries in Asia on Tuesday, rocking buildings in the Indian capital of New Delhi, sending panicked resident of Karachi, Pakistan, fleeing into the streets and causing tremors through Persian Gulf states. Iranian officials said they expected many deaths.

The earthquake measured 7.8 on the Richter scale and its epicenter was near Khash, Iran, not far from Iran’s border with Pakistan, the United States Geological Survey said.

An Iranian official told state television that he expected hundreds of deaths because of the severity of the earthquake.

The worst-hit area, along Iran’s southeastern border, is home to nearly 2 million people, who live in three main cities, Zahaedan, the provincial center, and the epicenter of the earthquake between the cities of Saravan and Khash, where roughly 400,000 people live, the semiofficial Tabnak Web site reported.

The semiofficial Fars news agency quoted Iran’s seismology center as saying the earthquake was the worst in 40 years.

The United States Geological Survey reported that the earthquake had a depth of 9.7 miles. Such deep earthquakes are rare and have greater destructive capability.

Iran has often been the epicenter of powerful earthquakes, some of which have taken tens of thousands of lives. In 2003, an 6.6 earthquake near the city of Bam killed at least 26,000 people, and in 1990 at least 30,000 people died in a quake along the Caspian Sea. Last week, a 6.1 quake hit in Bushehr Province, home to Iran’s main nuclear reactor, killing more than 30 people.

Unlike the earthquake in Bam, the epicenter of Tuesday’s earthquake was not directly under a densely populated area.

“The quake was felt in Sistan-Baluchistan Province in the cities of Zabol, Konarak and Khash,” said Mahmoud Mozaffar, the head of the Relief Office of the Iranian Red Crescent, according to local media.

“The quake was felt in seven villages, including Gasht, Kouh Sefid, Pashtouk and Tizab. Due to the low population density of these regions, we hope that the casualties are not too much,” he said.

In the largest city close to the epicenter, Saravan, a state of emergency was declared, other officials said.

Sistan-Baluchistan Province is among the poorest of Iran. Most residents are Sunni Muslims and many are from the Baluchi tribe which originates in Iran and Pakistan. The area is known for its drug trade and is regularly the scene of bombings carried out by separatists groups.

In Karachi, the southern port city in Pakistan, local television broadcast images of people standing out on the streets after fleeing high-rise buildings. Tremors were felt most strongly in southern and central parts of Pakistan.

“It seems as if the buildings will fall any minute,” an unidentified man in Karachi told GEO News, a private television news network.

The only report of fatalities, however, came from the adjoining province of Baluchistan, which borders Iran, where the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reported five deaths. Tahir Hussain, a lawyer with the human rights group, said five people had been killed in the remote town of Panjgur, 50 miles from the border with Iran.

“A wall collapsed and five people lost their lives, including three children and a woman,” he said, speaking by phone from Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan.

In New Delhi, which is periodically shaken by temblors, the distant quake could be felt through the city, as buildings shook for more than 10 seconds and, in some areas, frightened people ran into the streets. No injuries were reported, nor were there any early reports of property damage in the Indian capital.

Jim Yardley contributed reporting from New Delhi, Salman Masood from Islamabad, Pakistan, and Gerry Mullany from Hong Kong.

The 2 Things Savvy Interviewers Are Looking For 

By Arnie Fertig

Any employer will want to understand how you meet his or her needs before taking yours into consideration. When you keep this in mind, you will understand that the fastest way to find a job is to find the employer who thinks you represent the answer to his or her problem. To paraphrase President Kennedy's famous inaugural dictum: Ask not what an employer can do for you … ask what you can do for an employer.
When you winnow down all the possible jobs that you might apply for into the jobs for which you're most suited for to attain success, you will have the time and energy necessary to make each application, interaction and interview count. Rather than taking an unfocused shotgun approach, you will be able to psych out what employers are looking for … and give it to them with a customized cover letter, resume and phone-screening interview all leading up to the main event: the in-person job interview.
There is no end to articles and books written to tell interviewers how to do their jobs, and job seekers how to gain success. But in well-conducted job interviews, every question has some function relating to finding the person who can meet these two key employer objectives:
1. People who have the right behavior patterns for the job. Different jobs require different kinds of behavior patterns. Some require assertiveness, others require people to passively do whatever they're told. Some jobs are best filled by people with effervescent personalities, while others are better suited to the kind of person who prefers to interact with his or her computer over people, and so on.
As you prepare for your interview, think about what kind of qualities and personality the employer might deem best, and assume that you will encounter some questions that will probe to see if you fit. Come to your interview prepared with stories that demonstrate how you have exhibited these kinds of actions in your current or past roles. You will likely find an opportunity to tell your stories in response to questions that begin with something like: "Tell me about a time when you… [fill in the blank]."
2. People who possess the core competencies required for success. If you take the time to closely read a job description, you can discern the competencies that are associated with a position's requirements. For example, one random job posted recently calls for someone to be a "liaison for…", "gain approval for…", "track success…", "contribute to…", "execute marketing activities…" and "ensure budgets and schedules meet corporate requirements."
Ask yourself what is required to attain success for each of these bullet points. To be a liaison and gain approval for things, one must have solid oral and written communication skills. To track success, you must be detail oriented, and likely have the ability to negotiate spreadsheets. To contribute, someone most likely requires a collegial, team-based approach to work. To keep budgets on track likely requires someone with a head for numbers.
Each job, of course, will have its own stated requirements, and behind each one will lay one or more particular skills. As you prepare for your job interview, figure out how your past performance demonstrates that you possess the skills necessary to fulfill the job's requirements. Be prepared with plenty of examples and stories that can convince any interviewer that you have "the right stuff."
You might think of an interview as something of an interrogation where you hope to get the "right" answers. To be sure, there is likely to be a good deal of this kind of Q-and-A. But skilled interviewers and job hunters will be able to use this as a jumping off point for a larger discussion that can serve to build a relationship.
In the course of this discussion, your interviewer will not only be listening to what you say, he or she will also evaluate how you say it to gauge your communications skills and style. He or she will look to see your level of alertness, how you physically present yourself, and your level of self-confidence. Much will be intuited by interpreting your body language.
If you have done your interview preparation well, you will be able to sit proudly in your chair, look your interviewer in the eyes, and tell your unique stories in an engaging fashion. And when you do, you're most likely to make that final pivot from what you can do for the employer to how the employer can lure you to take the job before you accept any other offer.
Happy hunting!
Arnie Fertig is the head coach of JOBHUNTERCOACH.COM, where he utilizes his extensive background in HR Staffing and as owner of a recruiting company to help mid-career job-hunters land their next job. Arnie provides one-to-one coaching services to individuals throughout the U.S. in all aspects of the job hunt, including: resume writing, personal branding, utilizing social media, enhancing networking skills, preparing for interviews, and negotiating compensation.

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