More than 100 people have been killed in an earthquake in southwestern Pakistan, Minister for Revenue and Rehabilitation Zamaruk Khan said. He said the government is preparing to provide food, shelter and medical care to survivors of Wednesday’s quake.

‘More than 100′ people have been killed so far, he said. Separately, a district offiial said at least 80 people were killed when the quake struck the region bringing down hundreds of mud-walled houses. The US Geological Survey said a 6.4 magnitude quake hit 60 km northeast of the city of Quetta before dawn.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department put the magnitude at 6.5 and said the quake struck at 05:10 a.m. ‘I’m telling you that 80 people are dead in this area where I am standing right now,’ Sohail-ur-Rehman, a top district administration official in Balochistan province told Dawn Television by telephone from Wam district.