September 24, 2013 10:23AM ET
The 7.8-magnitude tremor toppled houses in the nation’s sparsely populated Balochistan province
Pakistani office workers evacuate a building after an earthquake struck Karachi on Sept. 24, 2013.Rizwan Tabassum/AFP/Getty Images
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck western Pakistan Tuesday, killing at least 25 people and destroying mud houses in a sparsely populated area of the South Asian country, officials and residents said.
The earthquake struck at 4:29 p.m. local time southwest of the city of Khuzdar in Balochistan province at a depth of nine miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Balochistan is a remote, mountainous area with no major industrial infrastructure.
Tremors were felt across the province, as well as in the port city of Karachi, residents said. People as far as the capital New Delhi also reported mild tremors.
Local officials in the Awaran district confirmed to Al Jazeera that at least 25 people had been killed by the quake.
Muhammad Riaz, a senior Pakistan meteorologist, told local media that the earthquake was “major” and that “heavy destruction” was likely.
Mumtaz Baloch, a senior local administration official in Awaran district, 217 miles southwest of provincial capital Quetta, told Agence France-Presse he had received reports of houses collapsing in the area due to the quake.
“We also have initial information about injuries to people as a result of the collapse of houses but there are no reports of any deaths. We have dispatched our teams to the affected area to ascertain the losses,” Baloch said.
In April, another 7.8-magnitude quake centered in southeast Iran, close to the border with Balochistan, killed 41 people.
Al Jazeera and wire services
Pakistan earthquake leaves 25 dead
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