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TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iran has appealed for international aid as the death toll from a devastating earthquake climbed to 4,000 and officials warned that thousands more are likely to be found dead.
At least 30,000 people have been injured in the quake in southeastern Iran, local officials said.
The Iranian government said as many as 20,000 people may have died in the quake, which was centered near the ancient city of Bam about 610 miles (975 km) southeast of the capital, Tehran.
The quake struck at 5:27 a.m. Friday (8:57 p.m. ET Thursday) as people were sleeping.
"I have lost all my family. My parents, my grandmother and two sisters are under the rubble," a 17-year-old girl told Reuters.
State media said two of Bam's hospitals had collapsed, leaving many of the staff injured. The remaining hospitals are reportedly full and rescuers were attempting to transported the wounded to neighboring towns.
The government requested international assistance, asking for sniffer dogs to help find the thousands feared trapped in the ruins.
"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 Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
He said 60 percent of the city's residential areas have been destroyed. Bam has a population of about 80,000 people.
Tehran University's Geophysics Institute said the earthquake measured a magnitude of 6.3, according to IRNA. It was followed by several aftershocks, including one measuring 5.3.
For its part, the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center measured the magnitude of the quake at 6.7
"The historic quarter of the city has been completely destroyed and caused great human loss," Nour Bakhsh with Iran's Red Crescent relief agency told IRNA.
A legislator for Kerman province, Hasan Khoshrou, told The Associated Press people on the scene said the devastation was "beyond imagination."
Adding to the crisis, both of the hospitals in Bam were destroyed in the earthquake, forcing people to seek medical attention in the provincial capital of Kerman. Private vehicles have been banned from the roads to make room for emergency traffic.
An Iranian woman weeps beside a man injured in the quake.
"We have no exact information about the scale of the damage since all telephone communications with the cities of Bam, Jiroft and Kohnouj had been cut off," Karimi said.
Mostafa Mohaghegh, another Red Crescent official, told CNN that rescuers were busy providing food, shelter and medicine to those injured in the quake.
"The state of the damages is very wide in the city so we are yet to identify the total number of those who have died and also the injured."
In explaining the severity of the damage to the city, journalist Shirzad Bozorgmehr in Tehran said Bam is an ancient city not designed to withstand a major earthquake. He said army search and rescue teams have been mobilized to the area.
Meanwhile, Russia and Germany have so far offered to help Iran in the rescue operations.
Russian Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Marina Ryklina said that two Il-76 transport aircraft with rescue workers and equipment were to leave for Iran later Friday, AP reported.
Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer sent a telegram to his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharrazi offering support.
"Germany is ready to do everything in its powers to contribute to recovering and rescuing people in the earthquake region,'' Fischer wrote.
German President Johannes Rau sent a letter of condolence to Iran's President Mohammad Khatami, and also offered German assistance, Reuters reported.
"I assure you that Germany is ready to support your nation in overcoming the material damages,'' Rau wrote.
At least 30,000 people have been injured in the quake in southeastern Iran, local officials said.
The Iranian government said as many as 20,000 people may have died in the quake, which was centered near the ancient city of Bam about 610 miles (975 km) southeast of the capital, Tehran.
The quake struck at 5:27 a.m. Friday (8:57 p.m. ET Thursday) as people were sleeping.
"I have lost all my family. My parents, my grandmother and two sisters are under the rubble," a 17-year-old girl told Reuters.
State media said two of Bam's hospitals had collapsed, leaving many of the staff injured. The remaining hospitals are reportedly full and rescuers were attempting to transported the wounded to neighboring towns.
The government requested international assistance, asking for sniffer dogs to help find the thousands feared trapped in the ruins.
"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 Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
He said 60 percent of the city's residential areas have been destroyed. Bam has a population of about 80,000 people.
Tehran University's Geophysics Institute said the earthquake measured a magnitude of 6.3, according to IRNA. It was followed by several aftershocks, including one measuring 5.3.
For its part, the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center measured the magnitude of the quake at 6.7
"The historic quarter of the city has been completely destroyed and caused great human loss," Nour Bakhsh with Iran's Red Crescent relief agency told IRNA.
A legislator for Kerman province, Hasan Khoshrou, told The Associated Press people on the scene said the devastation was "beyond imagination."
Adding to the crisis, both of the hospitals in Bam were destroyed in the earthquake, forcing people to seek medical attention in the provincial capital of Kerman. Private vehicles have been banned from the roads to make room for emergency traffic.
An Iranian woman weeps beside a man injured in the quake.
"We have no exact information about the scale of the damage since all telephone communications with the cities of Bam, Jiroft and Kohnouj had been cut off," Karimi said.
Mostafa Mohaghegh, another Red Crescent official, told CNN that rescuers were busy providing food, shelter and medicine to those injured in the quake.
"The state of the damages is very wide in the city so we are yet to identify the total number of those who have died and also the injured."
In explaining the severity of the damage to the city, journalist Shirzad Bozorgmehr in Tehran said Bam is an ancient city not designed to withstand a major earthquake. He said army search and rescue teams have been mobilized to the area.
Meanwhile, Russia and Germany have so far offered to help Iran in the rescue operations.
Russian Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Marina Ryklina said that two Il-76 transport aircraft with rescue workers and equipment were to leave for Iran later Friday, AP reported.
Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer sent a telegram to his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharrazi offering support.
"Germany is ready to do everything in its powers to contribute to recovering and rescuing people in the earthquake region,'' Fischer wrote.
German President Johannes Rau sent a letter of condolence to Iran's President Mohammad Khatami, and also offered German assistance, Reuters reported.
"I assure you that Germany is ready to support your nation in overcoming the material damages,'' Rau wrote.
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