Author:
AFP
ID:
1633565370784605400
Thu, 2021-10-07 00:07
QUETTA, Pakistan: A powerful earthquake early Thursday shook a remote mountainous part of southwestern Pakistan dotted with coal mines and mud houses, killing at least 20 people, an official said.
At least 200 more people were reported injured, said Naseer Nasir, director general of Pakistan’s Disaster Management Authority.
The death toll was expected to rise as officials search through the remote mountainous area, said Suhail Anwar Shaheen, deputy commissioner in the city of Harnai in Baluchistan province,
At least four of the dead were killed when the coal mine in which they were working collapsed, said Shaheen, citing reports from coal miners in the area.
More than 100 mud houses collapsed and a large number were damaged, including government buildings. Hundreds of people were rendered homeless, Suhail said.
The epicenter of the 5.7 magnitude quake was about 14 kilometers (8 miles) north-northeast of Harnai, according to the US Geological Survey. It struck about 20 kilometers (12 miles) below the surface.
The area, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Quetta, the provincial capital, is dotted with coal mines, which has Shaheen worried the death toll could rise. It struck in the early morning while scores of miners were already at work, he said.
Most of the population in the area live in sun-baked mud houses, many of which collapsed. Rescue efforts were underway, but Shaheen said it would take hours just to reach many of the hardest-hit areas.
Social media showed houses shaking and light fittings swaying as the quake struck, and later stunned residents gathering in the street in the dark.
The injured were rushed to hospital, while some were treated on stretchers in the street under phone torch light.
A 7.7-magnitude earthquake hit Quetta in 1935, killing between 30,000 and 60,000 people, making it one of the deadliest quakes to hit South Asia in recorded history.
Main category:
World
Tags:
Pakistan
