PAKISTAN QUAKE KILLS AT LEAST 20, INJURES HUNDREDS

Rescuers sifted rubble for survivors, with some of the injured being treated on stretchers in the street by torchlight from mobile telephones

An earthquake of magnitude 5.7 hit southern Pakistan in the early hours of Thursday, killing 20 people, most of them women and children, and injuring about 300, at a time when many victims were asleep, authorities said.

The earthquake struck at a shallow depth of about 20 km (12 miles), with its epicentre 102 km (62 miles) east of the city of Quetta, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.

“I took my children and wife outside. It was a terrifying situation as houses in Harnai were collapsing, my house was also damaged,” he added.more than 100 mud houses collapsed and many buildings were damaged, said district official Sohail Anwar. Television images showed buildings with gaping cracks, caved-in roofs and crumpled walls. Prime Minister Imran Khan ordered immediate assessment of the damages and offered condolences to families that lost loved ones, adding, “I have ordered immediate assistance on an emergency basis ... for the earthquake victims.”

Rescuers sifted rubble for survivors, with some of the injured being treated on stretchers in the street by torchlight from mobile telephones. An army helicopter flew at least nine of the seriously injured to Quetta, state-run Associated Press Pakistan said.