Over 10,000 people are feared killed and about 30,000 were injured after a strong earthquake jolted Iran early on Friday. However, officially the toll has been put at around 5,000.

Iranian television was quoted as saying that the quake had a magnitude of 6.3 on the Richter scale and its epicentre was near the southeastern town of Bam [population: 200,000] in Kerman province. There were several aftershocks, including one measuring 5.3.

"The historic quarter of the city has been completely destroyed," Nour Bakhsh with Iran's Red Crescent relief agency told Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency, according to CNN.

"The situation in Bam is worrying. The scale of the damage and deaths is widespread and the number of victims is high," Mohammad Ali Karimi, the governor general of Kerman province, told IRNA.

Rescue workers with helicopters have been sent to the area, IRNA reported. The government has set up a crisis centre in the city of Kerman, which is about 200km north of Bam. Authorities have broadcast urgent appeals for blood, blankets, food and clothes for the victims.

Tehran has appealed to the international community for sniffer dogs and equipment to search for bodies buried under the debris. Several nations have offered help in various forms.