Devastating quake

IT was yet another tragic day for Balochistan. As many as 216 people were killed, scores of others injured and over 15000 displaced when a powerful predawn earthquake measuring 6.4 n the Richter scale struck 60 kilometers northeast of Quetta. The toll is expected to rise further, as many people remained buried under the rubble. Most of the deaths were in remote villages where mud houses were destroyed by the landslides triggered by tremors. Provincial Revenue Minister Zamaruk Khan was quoted as telling a foreign wire agency that eight villages in Ziarat had been badly hit, and there were still many areas that had not been reached. In Quetta also, people fled screaming from their homes.