Pakistanis who endured Tuesday's strong earthquake that killed hundreds of people felt another quake Saturday, as a 6.8-magnitude quake hit Pakistan's remote province of Baluchistan. The quake may also have been deadly, due to reports of collapsed mud houses.
Saturday's aftershock quake struck less than 20 miles from Tuesday's 7.7-magnitude event. And it came after survivors had already grown frustrated with the pace of relief efforts — an undertaking complicated by unrest in the area.
From Islamabad, NPR's Abdul Sattar reports:
"The death toll in [Tuesday's quake] has risen to 515 while more than 600 are still injured. A visit by local journalists to the affected areas belies the government's claims of helping survivors, who complain of being ignored.
"Some of the survivors have resorted to looting the trucks carrying relief goods. These far-flung areas are without drinking water, medicines and foods, and the government blames Baluch rebels for hampering aid.
"The rebels, fighting for a separate homeland, say they will welcome help by local and international NGOs but will not allow army presence in the affected areas."
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Saturday's quake "occurred as the result of oblique-strike-slip motion at shallow crustal depths." The agency says the quake took place in "the transition zone between northward subduction of the Arabia plate beneath the Eurasia plate and northward collision of the India plate with the Eurasia plate."
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