At least 80 people were killed and scores of others injured when a powerful earthquake rocked parts of Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province today, officials said, writes Rezaul H Laskar, Islamabad, Press Trust of India (PTI), Oct 29 2008 at http://www.ptinews.com.
Forwarded by Budhi Mulyawan 301008. 

The temblor triggered landslides, flattened hundreds of houses and disrupted power supply. The region was first hit by a quake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale at around 4.33 am (local time) followed by a 6.1 magnitude temblor at 5.10 am, which lasted for 10 seconds.

The quake hit around 70 kilometres northeast of provincial capital of Quetta and 185 kilometres southeast of the Afghan city of Kandahar, the US Geological Survey said.

The jerks were felt in Quetta, Ziarat, Pishin, Qila Abdullah, Mastung, Sibi, Bolan, Kuchlak and Loralai areas.

Sohail-ur-Rehman, the district coordination officer of the worst-hit Ziarat, said at least 80 people were killed in the earthquake and the toll is expected to rise.

Most of the casualties were due to a landslide triggered by the temblor, officials said. Panic-stricken residents, who rushed out of their houses as the quake struck, were sleeping on roads and open spaces in many areas.

Rehman said at least 500 houses were demolished by the quake in Ziarat. Many people were still feared buried under the rubble.

The army said soldiers, paramilitary troops and helicopters have been dispatched to the worst-hit areas.

PTI

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