A powerful earthquake struck south-west Pakistan near its border with Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing 135 people and injuring scores more.

Officials said the earthquake, which had a magnitude of 6.4, struck the south-western city of Quetta early in the morning and caused widespread panic.

At least eight villages were badly hit and officials warned that the death toll could rise as rescue workers reached villages in the remote mountainous region bordering Afghanistan.

"So far 135 bodies have been recovered from the area, many more have been injured," said Dilawar Khan Kakar, mayor of the historic hill town of Ziarat, which is about 50 km (30 miles) north of the Pakistani city of Quetta.

"The rescue work is going on and more casualties are feared," Mr Kakar added.

Most of the deaths occurred in the hilly town of Ziarat in gas-rich Baluchistan province. Mud houses were destroyed and the tremors triggered landslides of rocks and boulders while people slept.

Mohammed Sultan, from the town of Sanjawai, told AFP the first tremor shook him awake from his deep sleep shortly before 5am, before he felt a larger shockwave about 10 minutes later.

In Ziarat buildings had collapsed and communications had been cut, he said, adding: "The town looks devastated. Parts of it are badly damaged. My relatives live in Ziarat but I can't contact them to find out how they are."

The epicentre of the earthquake occurred about 70km (45 miles) northeast of Quetta and around 185km southeast of the Afghan city of Kandahar just after 5am.

The tremor, which struck at a depth of 10km, sent people running screaming from their homes in Quetta, according to witnesses in the city.

Several people were injured in the panic in Quetta, with one person hurting their legs after jumping from a first floor window and three people wounded when people fired guns in the air after the quake, hospital officials said.

The Minister for Revenue and Rehabilitation Zamaruk Khan said the government is preparing to provide food, shelter and medical care to survivors of Wednesday's quake.

The Pakistan military has sent teams to the area to assess the damage and help with the relief operation.

A Pakistani military spokesman said 250 troops and two helicopters had been sent from Quetta to Ziarat, while an aerial assessment of the damage was also underway. Immediate medical help was also dispatched.

"The destruction is heavy, people need immediate help and we are providing assistance to the affected people," Colonel Mohammed Babar, who flew over the region, told AFP.

In October, 2005, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake in northwest Pakistan and Kashmir killed 74,000 people and displaced 3.5 million.

In 1935 a massive quake killed around 30,000 people in Quetta, which at the time was part of British-ruled India.

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