Shahr-Banou Mazandarani, who was plucked from under a pile of dust and bricks on Saturday, was said to be in a good health despite her ordeal having suffered fractured limbs and dehydration.

"'I am very cold. Can I have a cup of tea,'" Denis McClean of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) quoted her has telling her rescuers.

"'Has there been an earthquake?'" he quoted her as asking the female Iranian Red Crescent worker who found her, Zohreh Shaahyar.

Dr Paul Odberg of the Norweigen Red Cross told reporters that the life of the old woman, now a national celebrity, had been saved by a "so many remarkable coincidences".

"Fortunately before the quake her family left food by her bed. She was wearing a lot of clothes and there was a blanket over her," he explained, noting that older people also have "slower metabolism".

"She has been fed and she is in good condition," he added. "She gave the names of two of her sons and two of her grandchildren and the Red Crescent is trying to locate them."

More than 35,000 people are believed to have died in the quake, which struck before dawn on December 26.

In addition to the fact that most people would have been asleep at the time, officials also attributed the high number of deaths to the mud-brick construction of so many buildings. The bricks tended to disintegrate, allowing less chance of air pockets forming.

The woman survived thanks to the fact that she was under a piece of furniture, which formed an air pocket allowing her to breathe.

She also appears to have lost a few years after her ordeal: from behind her heavily wrinkled face, she told Iranian state television Sunday that she was only aged 50.

TERRA.WIRE