KERMAN -- Director General of Iran Red Crescent Society (IRCS) Hamid Nourbala said here Sunday that Iran is among the 10 most natural disaster-prone countries in the world.

He added that the country is under constant threats of earthquakes, IRNA reported.

Nourbala said that due to its climatic and ecological makeup, 50 percent of the country is susceptible to floods.

He added that to better prepare for such disasters the government will be responsible for overall policies, people will have the primary role and the IRCS will have to assume the role of operational supervision.

In a related issue, Director General of Kerman Branch of IRCS Ahmad Dabbaghzadeh said here last week that the voluntary members of the provincial Red Crescent Department exceeded 100,000.

He told reporters that Kerman Red Crescent Department is one of the selected bodies across the country in terms of the quantity and quality of its various training courses and the relief aid operations arranged so far.

Dabbaghzadeh put the number of the members of the Youth Association, rural aid brigades and the general provincial volunteers at 70,000, 24,000 and 10,000 respectively and said that some 14,200 new members went through four conventional training courses.

Putting the number of Red Crescent members attending various training courses at 27,697, he noted that training programs have also been planned for 14,200 more members that are new in the current Iranian year (started March 21).

"Some 39 cases of earthquake, 130 floods, 1,970 blazes and 30 other natural disasters struck the province in the last Iranian year," Dabbaghzadeh added.

According to him, the tolls taken by the natural disasters consisted of 10 deaths, 153 injuries and 314 cases of building destruction.

Pointing to Kerman as a province prone to natural disasters, he added that the training programs of the department in recent years were mainly focused on aid and rescue provided to mountaineers and victims of floods, road accidents and those buried under rubble.