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Version 14 Version 15
Scores dead after Pakistan quake Scores dead after Pakistan quake
(20 minutes later)
At least 100 people have been killed after an earthquake of 6.4 magnitude hit Balochistan province in south-western Pakistan, officials say. At least 135 people have been killed after an earthquake of 6.4 magnitude hit Balochistan province in south-western Pakistan, officials say.
The tremor struck 70km (45 miles) north of Quetta at 0409 (2309GMT Tuesday) at a depth of 10km, the US Geological Survey said. Officials in Balochistan say they expect the toll to rise.
A senior official in Balochistan said he expected the toll to rise. The tremor struck 70km (45 miles) north of Quetta at 0409 (2309GMT Tuesday) at a depth of 10km (6.2 miles), the US Geological Survey said.
Many houses collapsed during the quake and some were destroyed in landslides that followed it, officials said.Many houses collapsed during the quake and some were destroyed in landslides that followed it, officials said.
Reports say the provincial government has asked for help from the army and that the military has sent troops and helicopters to the area. Reports say teams of army and paramilitary frontier corps troops are in the area, helping to rescue the injured and retrieve bodies.
A senior army official Major General Salim Nawaz said the area where the earthquake had struck is thinly populated, and remains accessible for convoys carrying relief material. class="" href="/1/hi/in_pictures/7696717.stm">In pictures: Pakistan quake
A top civilian official in Balochistan, Sohail-ur-Rehman, told a local news channel: "Eighty people are dead in this area where I am standing now." Senior army official Major General Salim Nawaz said the area remained accessible for convoys carrying relief material.
Advertisement However, the mountainous region is thinly populated and local infrastructure is poor, making it difficult to get a clear picture of the casualties.
Aftermath of the earthquake Provincial Revenue Minister Zamrak Khan told Reuters news agency that many affected areas had still not yet been reached.
And a local television correspondent reported that some people in villages outside Quetta were angry that no rescue teams had arrived on the scene.
Mud homesMud homes
Dilawar Khan, mayor of the town of Ziarat, said two areas in his district had been "badly hit". The worst-hit area appeared to be Ziarat, about 50km north of Quetta, where hundreds of mostly mud and timber houses had been destroyed in five villages, mayor Dilawar Kakar said.
The majority of the homes in the district are made of mud and are fragile, raising fears of a higher toll. Some homes were buried in a landslide triggered by the quake, he said.
"Hundreds of mud houses have collapsed. We are using whatever resources we have to help the people and have asked for help from the provincial government," he said. "There is great destruction. Not a single house is intact. This time the figure we have got is 135 dead. It may be more," he told local television.
"There is a large number of injured people but we don't have an exact figure." He said hundreds of people had been injured and some 15,000 made homeless.
A television correspondent said he could see people retrieving bodies and that people in the villages were expressing anger that no local officials had arrived on the scene despite its relative proximity to the city. "I would like to appeal to the whole world for help. We need food, we need medicine. People need warm clothes, blankets because it is cold here," he said.
Deaths have also been reported in Pishin district. In the village of Sohi, a reporter for AP Television News saw the bodies of 17 people killed in one collapsed house and 12 from another.
"We were fast asleep when the tremor struck. We grabbed the children and ran outside. The earth continued shaking for more than a minute," said Habibullah, a resident of Pishin. Distraught residents were digging a mass grave in which to bury them.
Local officials quoted by Reuters news agency said that 40 people had received treatment for minor injuries, mostly caused when mud walls collapsed or in the ensuing panic. "We can't dig separate graves for each of them, as the number of deaths is high and still people are searching in the rubble," village elder Shamsullah Khan said.
Mr Khan said that 14 people had been killed in one area of Ziarat, and 11 in another, with five deaths reported in Pishin. Nearby Pishin district was also hit.
"There were two tremors, the second one was serious and people rushed out of their houses," said Amjad Hussain, a resident of Quetta. "We were fast asleep when the tremor struck. We grabbed the children and ran outside. The earth continued shaking for more than a minute," said resident Habibullah.
Quetta itself suffered almost complete destruction in an earthquake in 1935, with the death of about 30,000 people. The quake was also felt in Quetta itself.
More than 73,000 people were killed in the earthquake in Pakistan in October 2005 and almost an equal number were seriously injured. "There were two tremors, the second one was serious and people rushed out of their houses," said resident Amjad Hussain.
Quetta suffered almost complete destruction in an earthquake in 1935, with the death of about 30,000 people.
More than 73,000 people were killed in an earthquake in north-west Pakistan in October 2005 and almost an equal number were seriously injured.
Are you in the area? Have you been affected by the earthquake?Are you in the area? Have you been affected by the earthquake?
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