At least 20 people were killed and more than 200 people have been injured after a shallow earthquake hit southern Pakistan in the early hours of Thursday. More than 100 mud houses collapsed and a large number of buildings including the government's were damaged, after the 5.7 magnitude quake struck, said the Disaster Management Authority Director General Naseer Nasir on Thursday. A woman and six children were among the 20 dead and hundreds of people were rendered homeless. Disaster management officials said the death toll may increase.

The quake caused electricity to fail in the region, with health staff working until dawn without lights in a poorly equipped government hospital. The quake affected Quetta, Sibi, Harnai, Pishin, Qila Saifullah, Chaman, Ziarat, and Zhob in Balochistan. The region has the highest rates of seismicity and largest earthquakes in the Himalayan region. It was on October 8, one of the worst earthquakes hit the country killing over 74,000 people. Also in 2015, a 7.5-magnitude quake in Pakistan and Afghanistan killed almost 400 people across rugged terrain that impeded relief efforts.