Deaths As 7.8 Earthquake Hits Rural Pakistan

At least 39 people have been killed after a major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 hit a remote area of south western Pakistan.

The quake struck a remote mountainous part of the country at 4.29pm local time (12.29BST) around 100 kilometres (60 miles) southwest of the city of Khuzdar in Balochistan province, at a depth of 15 kilometres.

It was felt as far away as the Indian capital of New Delhi, hundreds of miles to the east, where buildings shook.

Early reports said dozens had died, but many of the buildings in that part of the country are made of weak materials and there were fears of more casualties.

Abdul Qadoos, deputy speaker of the Balochistan assembly, told Reuters that 30 people and at least 30% of houses in the impoverished Awaran district had been destroyed.

The United States Geological Survey issued a red alert for the quake, warning that heavy casualties were likely, based on past data.

Tremors were felt across the province as well as in the sprawling port city of Karachi, residents said. People in Ahmedabad in India, hundreds of miles from the epicentre, ran out of buildings and into the street.

A senior Pakistani meteorologist, Muhammad Riaz, told Dunya TV station it was a "major" earthquake and "heavy destruction" was likely.

Mumtaz Baluch, an official in Awaran district, 350 kilometres southwest of Quetta, said: "There are reports of houses being collapsed in the district. We also have initial information about injuries to people as a result of the collapse of houses.

"We have dispatched our teams to the affected area to ascertain the losses."

Office workers in Karachi rushed out of their buildings and sat on the footpaths along the roads or stood away from structures.

Noor Jabeen, a 28-year woman working for an insurance company, said: "My work table jerked a bit and again and I impulsively rushed outside."

In 2005, a 7.6 magnitude quake centred in Kashmir killed at least 73,000 people and left several million homeless in one of the worst natural disasters to hit Pakistan.

The epicentre is in a remote, sparsely-populated mountainous area of Balochistan.

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