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Death toll from Pakistan's earthquake hikes to 300: official

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Quetta, Oct 31, IRNA

Pakistan-Earthquake

Death toll from strong earthquake that struck Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan early Wednesday, has reached 300, a health official said Thursday.

Ayub Kakar, District Health Officer, in the devastated Ziyarat said that 80 dead bodies are still lying in the local hospital.

Two tremors hit parts of Balochistan early in the morning when people were asleep.

The devastation was caused by the second temblor, which was more powerful.

Pakistan Metrological department said the second quake measured 6.2 on the Richter scale and had its epicentre 70 km northeast of Balochistan's capital Quetta.

It put the magnitude of the second quake, which struck at 5.10 am, at 6.1 and that of the first one, which hit at 4.33 am, at 5 on the Richter scale.

Head of the metrological center Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry said that about 300 aftershocks felt since the earthquake caused huge destruction.

He said that 45 were significant with magnitude of 4 to 5.

Chaudhry said that aftershocks were also received in the morning on Thursday.

Aftershocks will be continued for six days more, he added.

Three villages in Ziyarat district were completely devastated, officials said.

TV channels are airing footage of mud brick houses that were devastated and of people sleeping on the roads in Quetta and other cities despite the freezing cold.

Displaced people say that they spent night in open places in severe cold as they did not get tents in time.

Provincial governor Zulfikar Magsi visited the earthquake-hit areas and monitored the relief activities.

Rescue efforts were hampered as many villages affected by the quake are located in remote areas.

The government mobilised the army and paramilitary Frontier Corps for rescue and relief operations.

The temblor also disrupted power supply in Quetta and several parts of Balochistan.

National Disaster Management Authority Chairman Lt Gen Farooq Ahmed Khan said army field hospitals, tents, blankets and jackets were being sent to the affected areas.

Several countries and organizations have offered assistance and expressed sympathy with the affected families.

The Director General of the meteorological office, Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry, said the quake was "very destructive" as its epicentre was just 10 km below the surface.

Officials in Ziarat said there was a need for tents and warm clothing due to the severe cold in the area.

The quake was also felt in Loralai, Qilla Abdullah, Sibbi, Bolan, Mastung and Zhob, they said.

Balochistan, considered Pakistan's most backward province, has witnessed other major earthquakes in the past.

Quetta was devastated and about 30,000 people killed by a major earthquake in 1935.

In October 2005, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake devastated northern Pakistan and Kashmir, killing around 80,000 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.