22 killed, over 300 injured in Balochistan earthquake

A powerful 5.9-magnitude earthquake jolted a mountainous part of Pakistan’s Balochistan province early on Thursday, resulting in the collapse of a coal mine and several mud houses that left at least 22 people dead and over 300 others injured, officials said.

The National Seismic Monitoring Centre in Islamabad said that the epicentre of the earthquake was near Harnai, which has a large number of coal mines, at a depth of around 15 kilometres.

The quake affected Quetta, Sibi, Harnai, Pishin, Qila Saifullah, Chaman, Ziarat and Zhob in Balochistan. Most of the deaths and injuries were reported from the remote north-eastern district of Harnai where at least 13 people have died, according to officials.