The village of Wam was one of the worst hit by the powerful early morning quake that killed at least 170 people, destroyed almost all of its mud houses and triggered landslides of rocks and boulders while people slept.

An excavator dug a large pit in the rocky ground and the bodies of the dead, all shrouded in white muslin, were buried in a mass grave, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

"The local graveyard has been devastated and we have no alternative. We have to bury them in mass graves," local teacher Malik Abdul Hamid said.

"We have so far buried 140 bodies in two mass graves. The dead were mostly women and children."

Hamid himself said he lost 15 family members.

"They were all my close relatives. My three sisters-in-law, one sister, nephews and nieces were killed," the 35-year-old added.

"I was sleeping in my house with my wife and children when a major earthquake shook at around 4:30 am (2230 GMT Tuesday). We all came out and after some time returned thinking that the danger was over.

"But about half an hour later I heard a big roar and everything was jolting. There was a big bang and many houses fell and their inhabitants were buried. Our house also collapsed but my wife and I survived."

As darkness fell in the inhospitable mountain region bordering Afghanistan and temperatures plunged to below zero degrees Celsius, more bodies were pulled from the mangled remains of the settlements and prepared for burial.

"We cannot leave them in the night. It would mean disrespect to the dead," he added.

Other people had similar stories of loss but among the despair were stories of hope and a dogged will to survive.

Abdul Jalil, a 35-year-old driver, said he escaped unhurt along with his wife. But his 10-year-old son was trapped in their flattened house.

"There was a small opening in the rubble. I saw him crying for help. I tried to take him out but gave up the idea after he fell unconscious," he recounted.

"However my wife continued her efforts and with the help of some volunteers she managed to pull the child out alive. It was a miracle."

Rescue efforts continued all day as violent aftershocks almost as big as the 6.4-magnitude quake continued to rock the area around the provincial capital of Baluchistan province, Quetta, spewing dust from peaks and sparking fresh panic.

Scores of cars and motorbikes thronged Wam, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of the historic hill town of Ziarat, as people rushed in from adjoining cities and towns frantic to know the fate of their loved ones.

Many survivors were wailing and shouting the names of their relatives as they dug through the debris.

More than 400 people were wounded and hundreds had been taken to hospitals in Quetta and elsewhere, officials and volunteers said.

For survivors, relief began to trickle into the village despite the overland route being all but impassable by huge cracks left in the main 50-kilometre Quetta-Ziarat road by massive boulders that crashed down from the mountains.

Food was being served to survivors in a hastily-erected tent after four military helicopters flew into the area to provide cooked rice and other supplies.

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