QUETTA, Pakistan – A Pakistani official says at least 135 people have died in an earthquake in a southwestern province.
Local mayor Dilawar Kakar says 135 deaths have been confirmed in Baluchistan and that the figure will likely rise as rescuers reach remote villages.
Kakar says hundreds more have been injured and some 15,000 people are homeless and need help.
The worst-hit area appeared to be Ziarat, where hundreds of mostly mud and timber houses were destroyed in five villages, said the mayor. Some were buried in landslides triggered by the quake, he said.
"Rescue work is being carried out by the villagers themselves, but a larger operation is needed here," he said.
The army said it was rushing medical teams on helicopters to the affected villages.
The quake struck two hours before dawn Wednesday with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4. It was a shallow 10 miles below the surface and was centered about 400 miles southwest of the capital, Islamabad.
Pakistan is prone to violent seismic upheavals. Wednesday's quake was the deadliest since a magnitude-7.6 quake devastated Kashmir and northern Pakistan in October 2005, killing about 80,000 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.
