Tuesday, April 16, 2013
KARACHI (BNA) A major earthquake struck a region near the Iran-Pakistan border on Tuesday, killing at least six people in different parts of Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, officials said.
Balochistan Home Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani said six people had been killed, while 10 had been injured in different parts of the province.
Durrani said up to 40 shops had also been destroyed by the tremors.
In the Mashkel area of Balochistan’s Washuk district near the Pak-Iran border, several hundred houses were reported to have collapsed, raising fears of casualties in the area.
Meanwhile, Iranian state television reported at least 40 people killed in the aftermath of the quake.
An Iranian government official said he expected hundreds of deaths from the massive 7.8 magnitude earth quake, felt as far away as New Delhi and Gulf cities of Dubai and Bahrain.
“It was the biggest earthquake in Iran in 40 years and we are expecting hundreds of dead,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
But Iranian politician Hamid Reza Pashang told the Mehr news agency: “From what we have heard from people in the stricken areas, we have learned that the number of deaths is not high.”
“I have talked to the people of Zabul, Saravan, Khash and other areas hit by the earthquake and they have said, the earthquake was not of a kind to cause many deaths,” he said.
It was not clear how he had reached them, given the breakdown in power and communications.
Iranian state television said at least 40 people were killed but acknowledged it had no official confirmation.
The epicenter was in southeast Iran in an area of mountains and desert. It was located 201 km southeast of the Iranian city of Zahedan and 250 km northwest of Turbat in Pakistan, USGS said.
Tremors were felt across several Pakistani cities, including Quetta, Pishin, Killa Abdullah, Chaghi, Sibi, Jaffarabad, Karachi, Hyderabad, Quetta, Badin, Islamabad, and Rawalpindi.
According to reports, the earthquake shook areas from Quetta to Pak-Iran Border Taftan and Pak-Afghan border Chaman. And Mekran belt near Arabian Sea.
Several part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, including Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan, and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, also felt the jolts.
Tremors from the earthquake were felt as far away as New Delhi and the Gulf cities of Dubai and Bahrain.
Across the Gulf, high-rise buildings swayed and officials ordered evacuations. Dubai has the world’s tallest tower, the 828-meter Burj Khalifa.
Last week, a deadly 6.1 magnitude quake about 96 kilometers southeast of Bushehr, the site of Iran’s reactor.
