Quetta: About 20 people were killed and dozens were seriously injured when a superficial earthquake hit Pakistan southern at the early hours of Thursday because people were sleeping, said government officials.
Many of the victims died when the roof and wall collapsed after an earthquake measuring 5.7 struck, with health workers treated injured with the help of a torch after electricity failed.
A woman and six children were among the 20 deaths, Suhail Anwar Hashmi, a senior provincial government official, told AFP.
“We received information that 20 people had been killed because of the earthquake.
Rescue efforts are taking place,” Interior Minister Mir Zia Ullah Langau added.
Naseer Nasar, Head of the Balochistan Provincial Disaster Management Authority, told AFP that between 15 and 20 people had died, but warned that victims could increase.
The worst affected area is Harnai’s remote mountain city, at Balochistan, where lack of paved roads, electricity and cellphone coverage has hampered rescue efforts.
The earthquake caused electricity to fail in the region, with health staff working without lights in a less complete government hospital.
“We operate without electricity with the help of torches and cellular flashlights,” Zahoor Tarin, a senior official at the HARNAI Hospital managed by the government told AFP.
“Most of those who were injured came with broken limbs.
Dozens of people were sent back after the first aid while around 40 people who were injured critically were sent to Quetta in the ambulance,” he added.
The US geological survey said the earthquake had a magnitude of 5.7 and crashed around 3am at a depth of about 20 kilometers (12 miles).
The earthquake was also felt at the Quetta Quetta Province Balochistan.
Pakistan straddles the boundary where Indian and Eurasia tectonic plates meet, make the country vulnerable to the earthquake.
In October 2015, the 7.5 magnitude earthquake in Pakistan and Afghanistan killed nearly 400 people in a rough terrain that hampered relief efforts.
The country was also hit by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake on October 8, 2005, which killed more than 73,000 people and left around 3.5 million homeless people, especially in Kashmir which was occupied by Pakistan.