Pakistan’s Balochistan hit by 6.8-magnitude tremor

Pakistan’s Balochistan hit by 6.8-magnitude tremor
Sat Sep 28, 2013 15:28:06

Another strong tremor measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale has hit Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan Province just days after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the same area.

According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake occurred at 0734 GMT on Saturday 96 kilometers (59 miles) northeast of the district of Awaran.
"It was not an aftershock it was an independent earthquake," Zahid Rafi, the director of the National Seismic Centre of Pakistan said.

"We are checking but no reports of losses have yet been received," Jan Mohammad Buledi, the spokesman for the provincial government of Baluchistan told AFP.

The USGS measured the quake at a depth of 14 kilometers. 

Reports say that the area is faced with shortage of food, drinking water and medical supplies. Tens of thousands of survivors are angry at the slow pace of government aid.

On Tuesday, an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck at a depth of 15 kilometers around 100 kilometers southwest of the city of Khuzdar in Balochistan Province.

Pakistani officials said that at least 500 people have been confirmed dead in the quake that shook a number of cities including Karachi, Hyderabad, Quetta and Kalat.Tremors have also been felt as far away as the Indian capital, New Delhi.

Pakistan's Balochistan is prone to earthquakes. A similar quake killed 41 people there in April.

A 7.6-magnitude quake hit Pakistan-administered Kashmir and several other regions on October 2005, killing at least 73,000 people and leaving some 3.5 million others homeless.
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