ISLAMABAD, Pakistan The death toll from a 6.4-magnitude earthquake in southwest Pakistan rose to at least 215 by Thursday, officials said.
Authorities fear the toll may rise further if more bodies are found under the remains of hundreds of mud houses that have been reduced to rubble.
The quake rendered between 10,000 and 15,000 people homeless when it struck a remote area of Balochistan province early Wednesday, said Asar ul Haq of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Many residents are reluctant to return home, afraid their houses might collapse, he said.
The death toll was tallied based on bodies that had been recovered and buried by Thursday, said Mohammad Dawud of the District Police Office in the hardest-hit Ziarat district. A quake-induced landslide there buried dozens of homes.
The main quake struck just after 4 a.m., about 35 miles (60 km) north-northeast of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. It was followed by a 6.2-magnitude aftershock about 12 hours later, and dozens of smaller ones, according to the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colorado.
"There are some villages completely destroyed. There is a lot of destruction," said the province's Deputy Director of Public Safety Mohammad Ali.
TV images from the scene showed women squatting next to gaping craters where houses once stood -- their heads buried in their hands
The quake rendered between 10,000 and 15,000 people homeless when it struck a remote area of Balochistan province early Wednesday, said Asar ul Haq of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Many residents are reluctant to return home, afraid their houses might collapse, he said.
The death toll was tallied based on bodies that had been recovered and buried by Thursday, said Mohammad Dawud of the District Police Office in the hardest-hit Ziarat district. A quake-induced landslide there buried dozens of homes.
The main quake struck just after 4 a.m., about 35 miles (60 km) north-northeast of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. It was followed by a 6.2-magnitude aftershock about 12 hours later, and dozens of smaller ones, according to the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colorado.
"There are some villages completely destroyed. There is a lot of destruction," said the province's Deputy Director of Public Safety Mohammad Ali.
TV images from the scene showed women squatting next to gaping craters where houses once stood -- their heads buried in their hands
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