Red Cross appeals for aid to Pakistan quake victims

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The Red Cross is asking for $7.8 million in emergency funds to help the victims of a deadly earthquake in southwest Pakistan.

The 6.4-magnitude quake struck early Wednesday about 35 miles (60 kilometers) north-northeast of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. It was followed by a 6.2-magnitude aftershock about 12 hours later, and dozens of smaller ones, according to the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colorado.

More than 200 people were killed by the quake. The International Committee of the Red Cross said the exact number of injuries is not known, but it estimates that the quake affected 20,000 to 30,000 people.

Although it has not started snowing yet, the temperature in the affected region could drop below 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius) at night, the ICRC said. Aid organizations are providing blankets and stoves to help victims fight the cold.

The ICRC said its priority is to provide shelter to the thousands of residents left homeless as winter sets in.

The worst-hit area appeared to be the district of Ziarat, where a quake-induced landslide buried hundreds of homes.

"Over 4,000 mud and timber houses were destroyed, leaving thousands of people homeless," according to a statement from Pascal Cuttat, the ICRC's head of delegation in Islamabad.

Balochistan, located near the Afghan border, is the largest province in Pakistan but one of its least populated. A magnitude 7.5 quake in Quetta in 1935 killed 30,000 people, according to the USGS.

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