ISLAMABAD: More than 200 people were killed when a powerful earthquake struck southwest Pakistan yesterday. The quake flattened mud houses and triggered landslides in the province of Balochistan, killing or injuring their occupants as they slept. Rescue workers faced problems reaching remote areas hit by the tremor.

The 6.5-magnitude quake was also felt in the provincial capital Quetta. Thousands braced for a freezing night in the open as aftershocks caused panic among the residents.

Ghulam Tahir, editor of Daily Quetta Times, told Arab News that the collapse of mud houses and landslides caused many deaths. Director General of the National Disaster Management Cell retired Maj. Gen. Farooq Bagga told a press briefing in Islamabad that rescue and relief work was in full swing.

At least eight villages were badly hit, local police and officials said, warning the death toll could rise as rescue workers reached villages in the remote mountainous region bordering Afghanistan.

Dilawar Kakar, the mayor of the historic hill town of Ziarat, north of the city of Quetta, told AFP earlier the death toll had risen to 170, while about 400 people in the area were injured.

Virtually all houses were hit either in the initial quake or by repeated aftershocks, one of which the US Geological Survey measured at a magnitude of 6.2.

“The relief work continued until late evening and we have recovered almost all victims from the rubble. Debris have been removed and we believe there may not be more people trapped there,” Kakar said.

“We have buried around 130 people in the affected villages while other bodies have been sent to their native towns.”

Earlier, Khushal Khan, spokesman for the revenue minister of Balochistan province, Zamarak Khan, said local people had told him about 6,000 people have been rendered homeless and, in one case, 29 members of the same family died.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani both offered their condolences to relatives of those killed and injured, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan said.

Neighbor India quickly offered any help that might be required.

In Quetta, witnesses said people fled screaming from their homes when the quake hit shortly after 5 a.m. (2300 GMT Tuesday). Television footage showed many outside in the streets, wrapped up against the early morning chill.

But most of the victims were from outlying villages, whose mud houses were destroyed by the tremors, which triggered landslides of rocks and boulders while people slept in their beds.

In the village of Wam, near Ziarat, survivors later began burying their dead. At least 75 bodies were removed from the rubble, a local charity, Edhi, said.

Mohammad Naeem, 28, told AFP: "My brother Abdus Salam, who was a truck driver, returned to the village last night from duty and went to sleep in his room. However, the roof of the room collapsed in the quake killing Salam and his wife. We recovered bodies of both Salam and his wife and buried them in the afternoon." Others desperately dug among the rubble of demolished houses in the hope of finding loved ones alive or their bodies.

Buildings collapsed in Ziarat and communications were cut while the main road to Quetta was also hit, with wide cracks in places and boulders from landslides.

Soldiers, helicopters, tents, blankets, food and medical help have been sent from Quetta to Ziarat and an aerial assessment of the damage has started, the Pakistani military said. Authorities said the situation was under control and there was no need for external aid. But Ziarat's mayor said the 3,000 tents sent so far were not enough.

— With input from agencies