Rescuers are struggling to help thousands of people injured and homeless after their houses collapsed in a major earthquake in south western Pakistan, while the death toll from the massive tremor there rose to 285.
The earth moved with enough force to create a small island visible off the southern coast when the magnitude 7.7 quake struck in the remote district of Awaran in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province Tuesday.
The quake flattened wide swathes of Awaran. Most of the victims were killed when their houses collapsed.
The remoteness of the area and the lack of infrastructure have hampered the relief efforts.
“We are finding it very difficult to reach the affected remote areas,” said a spokesman for the provincial government. “We need more tents, more medicine and more food.”
The Pakistani military said it had rushed almost 1,000 troops to the area overnight and was sending helicopters as well. A convoy of 60 Pakistani army trucks left Karachi carrying supplies.
Local officials said they were sending doctors, food and 1,000 tents for people who had nowhere to sleep as strong aftershocks continued to shake the region.
Pakistani officials were investigating a small island that appeared off the coast of Pakistan after the quake, apparently the result of earth and mud pushed to the surface.
The head of the Geological Survey of Pakistan confirmed that the mass was created by the quake and said scientists were trying to determine how it happened. Zahid Rafi said such masses are sometimes created by the movement of gases locked in the earth under the sea, pushing mud and earth up to the surface in something akin to a mud volcano.
Baluchistan is Pakistan’s largest province but also the least populated and most impoverished. Medical facilities are few and far between and often poorly stocked with medicine or qualified personnel. Awaran district has about 300,000 residents spread out over 11,000 square miles.
Many residents are believed to be involved in smuggling fuel from Iran, while others harvest dates.
The area where the quake struck is at the center of an insurgency that Baluch separatists have been waging against the Pakistani government for years. The separatists regularly attack Pakistani troops and symbols of the state, such as infrastructure projects.
Baluchistan and neighboring Iran are prone to earthquakes. A magnitude 7.8 quake centered just across the border in Iran killed at least 35 people in Pakistan last April.