Iran earthquake: deaths in Pakistan
A major earthquake strikes south-east Iran, reportedly killing at least 30 people in neighbouring Pakistan and shaking buildings as far away as India and the Gulf states.
The earthquake registered a magnitude of 7.8 and struck at a depth of 51 miles near the country’s border with Pakistan.
The Tehran Geophysics Centre called it the strongest earthquake in 50 years, but the depth meant that Iran was relatively unscathed.
State television initially said that at least 40 people had been killed, but Hatam Narouyi, governor of Sistan and Baluchistan province, later told the ISNA agency: “Fortunately, the earthquake resulted in no fatalities.”
Officials in Pakistan said at least eight people were killed and 20 injured in the south-western province of Baluchistan, which borders Iran.
Three women and two children also died when their mud house collapsed in the Baluchistan district of Panjgur.
The earthquake struck at 10:44am UK time. The epicentre was in a sparsely populated area of mountains and desert, 53 miles from the Iranian city of Khash.
In Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchistan, people began pouring into the streets after the tremors were first felt.
The Iranian Red Crescent said that all communications in the area were cut, and rescue teams were dispatched to affected area.
It was the second big quake to hit Iran in a week. On 9 April, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck near the country’s Bushehr nuclear power station, killing 37 people. The plant was not damaged.
On this occasion, the quake is not thought to have damaged Iran’s nuclear facilities, which are located in the centre and west of the country.
Tremors in India
Tremors shook tall buildings in India’s capital New Delhi, 900 miles from the epicentre, sending people running into the streets. People also evacuated tall buildings in Qatar and Dubai.
“I was working and my work station was shaking,” said Viidhu Sekhri, 35, an underwriter at a New Delhi insurance company. “Then it was a bit shaky so we just rushed outside.”
In Dubai, workers flooded out of their offices after the earthquake was felt. People also left offices in Karachi in Pakistan.
Iran sits on major geological faultlines and has suffered several devastating earthquakes, including a 6.6 magnitude quake in 2003 that flattened the city of Bam, in Iran’s far south-east, killing more than 25,000 people.