A series of aftershocks has struck Baluchistan, a province near the Afghani border, as tens of thousands of people who survived Wednesday’s tremor waited for aid in sub-zero conditions.
Official reports indicate that at least 170 people were killed on Wednesday when a 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit Baluchistan [1], flattening mud-brick houses and triggering landslides, the Pakistani daily The News reported.
Harsh weather conditions are still hampering the rescue and aid efforts of international and local teams.
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced it was sending medical aid and supplies for 50,000 people.
The Pakistani government initially refused international aid, but it now seems the scope of devastation will require foreign assistance.
“We are currently working with the Pakistani government, the United Nations and other potential donors to assess the damage,” U.S. State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters on Wednesday.
McCormack added that the U.S. was standing by to send an assistance package as soon as the Pakistani government specified its needs.
Tens of thousands of survivors in the more remote villages of Baluchistan spent the freezing night with no shelter, as tents and other supplies had not yet arrived.
“There is no scientific or systematic policy on the government level to counter such catastrophes,” The Media Line’s (TML) correspondent in Pakistan said a few hours after the quake.
While there is a “very discouraging response from the government,” non-governmental organizations are already sending medicines, blankets and food items to the area, the TML correspondent added.
A devastating earthquake in Kashmir in 2005 killed over 80,000 Pakistanis.