A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.2 shook various parts of country early on Wednesday, jolting residents of cities as far apart as Delhi and Dubai, but the epicentre was far from major population centres.
The US Geological Survey said the quake was more than 80 km (50 miles) underground, close to the town of Dalbandin in Balochistan province, near the Afghan and Iranian frontiers.
No damage wasreported immediately. The USGS had first said that the earthquake was very much shallower.
In Karachi, 400 km (250 miles) away, people woke and rushed out of their homes in very cold conditions, reciting verses from the Holy Quran after the tremors hit at 1:23 a.m. (2023 GMT on Tuesday). The authorities there had no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
In an ominous indication of problems for the small towns and villages of Balochistan, however, people in India's border province of Rajasthan said cracks appeared in the walls of rural dwellings. The simple structures common in the area closest to the quake may fare badly under the strains of major tremors.
The USGS said the epicentre was 55 km (34 miles) west of Dalbandin, a town of about 15,000 people, and at a depth of 83 km (52 miles).
The Pacific Tsunami Center said the onshore quake had not triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean.
A major quake of this magnitude, if at a shallow depth and close to population centres, is capable of causing widespread and heavy damage. Pakistan is still reeling from devastating floods last year that left more than 10 million people homeless.
In 2005, a 7.6 magnitude quake 95 km (60 miles) northeast of the Pakistani capital Islamabad killed over 70,000 people.
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