At least 15 people were killed on Saturday when a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck Balochistan, a region already devastated by a massive quake earlier this week.
Frontier Corps Spokesman Khan Wasey, confirmed the deaths and said at least 50 people were injured in Nok Jo village and Mashkay area of Awaran district.
The recent deaths took the toll from the two quakes to 374 and the total number of injured has risen to 825.
According to a United States Geological Survey, the epicenter of the quake was recorded 96 kilometers northeast of Balochistan’s Awaran district and was 14 kilometers deep.
The local meteorological office recorded the intensity of the earthquake as 7.2 on the Richter Scale and said the epicenter of the quake was 150 kilometers southwest of Khuzdar.
Earlier, Awaran district Deputy Commissioner Rasheed Baloch said more than 60 mud-walled houses collapsed when the earthquake struck the village. He said the bodies of four people killed in the previous quake were also retrieved from the rubble.
Baloch said a rescue operation was underway in the district and its surrounding areas to retrieve the bodies and shift the injured to hospitals.
“Poor communication system is a major hindrance in the way of relief operation,” he said.
The Balochistan Assembly session was underway when the earthquake struck. Television footages showed ministers and members of the assembly walking out of the session due to the tremors as the session was temporarily suspended.
Aftershocks were felt in Kech, Khuzdar, Kalat and other towns of the province. The tremors were also felt as far away as Naushero Feroz, Shikarpur, Karachi and Hyderabad in Sindh province.
On Friday, the death toll from a 7.7-magnitude earthquake which jolted Balochistan’s Awaran and Kech districts on Tuesday, rose to 359 with over 600 people injured.
