A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked southern Pakistan today, killing two persons and damaging several houses near the epicentre in Balochistan province.
The tremors that lasted almost a minute caused widespread panic in cities of Sindh province like Karachi and Hyderabad. People rushed out of their offices and homes in Karachi, the country's largest city, and other parts of Sindh and Balochistan provinces.
Two persons were killed and several houses and shops were damaged in Awaran area of Khuzdar district in Balochistan, located near the epicentre, media reports said. An emergency was declared in hospitals in Awaran.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage to property in other areas.
The temblor, which had its epicentre 69 km from Awaran, was originally measured at 7.4 on the Richter Scale by the US Geological Survey which later revised it to 7.8. Pakistan's meteorological office gave the magnitude as 7.7.
The quake struck at 4.29 pm Pakistani time at a depth of 23 kilometres.
Reports said the quake was also felt in towns and cities like Lahore, Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
National Seismic Monitoring Centre Director Zahid Rafi told PTI that the tremors were of "great intensity" in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, and in some remote areas of the province. The tremors could have caused damage and casualties, he said.
"The affected areas include Jaffarabad, Noskhi, Kalat, Windar, Naseerabad, Phunjgur and Mastung," Rafi said.
