A 7.8 magnitude earthquake described as the strongest to hit Iran in 40 years today killed at least 34 people in Pakistan with dozens feared dead in Iran and tremors were felt in India and the Gulf states.
Iranian state TV said at least 40 people have died in Iran but it had no official confirmation amid differing assessment of casualty toll. There were reports that at least 100 people were feared killed while some said the casualties, if any, may not be high.
In India, the tremors shook north India and Gujarat at 4.14 pm pulling panic—stricken people out of their homes and offices, hours after two smaller tremors jolted Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Odisha, leaving a child dead in a mudsling in Assam.
There were no immediate reports of any damage or casualty in the tremors in India caused by the powerful quake centred near Saravan, a remote and sparsely populated mountainous region area about 48 km from the Pakistani border.
The US Geological Survey put the preliminary magnitude at 7.8 and at a depth of 15.2 km.
Nuclear plants in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan remained unaffected by the earthquake, Nalinish Nagaich, Executive Director, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) told PTI in Delhi.
“I was inside my office in Connaught Place. I felt the chair trembling and rushed out of office,” said Priya Dev, a chartered accountant in Delhi where buildings swayed.
The quake struck less than a week after a 6.1 magnitude quake hit near Bushehr, on Iran’s Persian Gulf coast, killing at least 37 people.
In Pakistan, the 34 deaths were recorded in the remote Panjgur and Kharan districts of Balochistan, TV news channels quoted officials as saying.
Eight children and two women were among the dead.
The Mashkel area was hit hardest by the high—intensity quake and hundreds of homes were destroyed or damaged in the affected regions, reports said.
In Karachi, several persons were injured when a building collapsed.
The quake was also felt in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. It shook buildings and forced high—rise offices to be evacuated in Abu Dhabi.