Powerful 5.7 magnitude earthquake hits southern Pakistan

A powerful 5.7 magnitude earthquake shook parts of southwestern Pakistan early Thursday, killing at least 11 people, a local official said.

The injured were rushed to hospital, while some were treated on stretchers in the street under phone torch light.

Many of the victims died when roofs and walls collapsed, Suhail Anwar Hashmi, a senior provincial government official, told AFP. A woman and six children were among twenty dead, he said. He said at least 200 people have been hurt and he expected the death toll to rise.

More than 100 mud houses collapsed and a large number were damaged, including government buildings. Hundreds of people were rendered homeless, deputy commissioner in the city of Harnai, told Reuters.

“We are receiving information that 20 people have been killed due to the earthquake,” provincial interior minister Mir Zia Ullah Langau added. “Rescue efforts are underway.”

The epicenter of the 5.7 magnitude quake was about 14 kilometers (8 miles) north-northeast of Harnai in Baluchistan province, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It struck about 20 kilometers (12 miles) below the surface.

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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.

The earthquake was also felt in Balochistan’s provincial capital, Quetta, which is about 100km west of the epicentre.

Pakistan straddles the boundary where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet, making the country susceptible to earthquakes.

In October 2015, a 7.5-magnitude quake in Pakistan and Afghanistan killed almost 400 people across rugged terrain that impeded relief efforts.

The country was also hit by a 7.6-magnitude quake on October 8, 2005, that killed almost 80,000 people and left about 3.5 million homeless, mainly in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

(With inputs from agencies)