At least 20 people have been killed after an earthquake struck Pakistan's Balochistan province early on Thursday.
The quake was at a depth of 10km. Photo: 123rf
Disaster management officials said the death toll may increase.
Many of the dead were women and children, the Reuters news agency said.
The US Geological Survey said it was a 5.9 magnitude quake that struck at a shallow depth of 9km. Shallow quakes can cause more damage.
Rescue operations are still underway. Local officials told BBC Urdu that at least 150 others are thought to have been injured, with several of them rushed to hospital in critical condition.
Some people were treated on stretchers with medics using phones as torches, Reuters said.
More than 100 mud houses have collapsed and a large number of buildings were damaged, leaving hundreds of people homeless, an official told the agency.
Images on social media showed people in the city of Quetta out on the streets in the aftermath of the quake.
Magnitude of a 5.9 #earthquake originated in #Harnai and jolted various parts of Balochistan including Quetta Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/o6DCjaSkCe
— Malik Ali Raza (@MalikAliiRaza) October 7, 2021
Much of the damage appears to have affected the Harnai district, officials said.
Harnai, which is located east of Quetta, has a large number of coal mines which could collapse during quakes.
Balochistan's interior minister Mir Ziaullah Langu told the BBC that emergency services had been dispatched to the area.
- BBC
