GENEVA, Switzerland: In northern Pakistan, relief officials and local government leaders have reported dramatically higher death tolls from the devastating Oct. 8 earthquake with estimates reaching 100,000, the army's chief spokesman said while the United Nations humanitarian arm said the world body has scheduled an international conference next week on aid to tremor-hit Pakistan.

The spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan said the government has decided against revising its official estimate of 38,000 killed until its relief coordinator completes a survey but it acknowledges that the actual toll probably will be much higher.

In the meantime, the government is reluctant to endorse the rise in field estimates because of their implications for the amount of money it will offer to victims in compensation, Sultan said. Parliament approved about $85 million in aid to quake victims a week ago, when the official toll stood just under 20,000.

But Sultan confirmed that a trusted philanthropist reassessing casualties from the 7.6-magnitude quake estimated the number killed to be around 100,000. That report came from Abdul Saddar Edhi, whose namesake foundation has been leading relief efforts, he said.

In Islamabad, a government official who received reports of many villages being discovered buried under the rubble, estimated that about 80,000 had died.

The official did not want to be identified because of the government's policy of awaiting the results of the survey by the relief coordinator.

Talking to AFP, a spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Elisabeth Byrs told the October 24 meeting was expected to bring together ministers from Pakistan and donor countries, plus international aid agencies and other relief groups.

Byrs said OCHA is hoping that donor countries will transform their promised help into solid support, as Pakistan reels in the aftermath of the devastating quake.

The UN has so far received six million dollars of the 272 million dollars it appealed for after the earthquake, while donors have pledged another 44 million dollars. Most of the aid has been in kind -- ranging from food supplies to helicopter flight hours.

The UN figure does not include all the direct aid to Pakistan offered by donor countries.

Byrs said the UN would likely increase its appeal by another 40 million dollars in coming weeks.

The earthquake is estimated to have left tens of thousands injured and 2.5 million homeless in Pakistan alone. Many survivors are in desperate need, facing tough winter weather.

The UN also estimates that billions of dollars will be needed for a massive reconstruction effort lasting over a decade.