Islamabad, Sep 24

At least 33 people were killed and over 20 injured after an earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale hit parts of Pakistan Tuesday afternoon.

Awaran district, located 645 km away from Balochistan's capital Quetta, was the worst hit area where 30 people were killed and a dozen others injured in the earthquake, Xinhua reported citing officials.

Abur Rasheed Baloch, district commissioner of Awaran said the area suffered heavy losses as many houses collapsed and rescue personnel had pulled out 30 bodies and over 20 injured people from the debris. 

Baloch said that many were still trapped under the rubble of quake-hit buildings.

He said an emergency had been declared in hospitals of the district and rescue teams from other parts of the province were on their way to the district to carry out rescue and relief operation. 

District Commissioner of Turbat district of the province said at least three people were killed and several others injured as houses were razed to ground due to the high intensity earthquake.

According to media reports, three people were injured in Balbandin, a small town in Khuzda, central Balochistan, while two schools were levelled to the ground in Hub, 300 km southeast of Khuzda and several house collapsed in Gwadar, a port city of Balochistan.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said on its website that the epicentre of the quake is located 120 km southwest of Khuzda.

The earthquake took place at 4.29 p.m. and the focal depth is 10 km under the ground, said PMD.

Strong tremors were felt in many parts of the country, from the southern port city of Karachi to the eastern city of Lahore and northwestern parts of the country.

The quake caused panic in densely populated Karachi where people rushed out of their homes and offices, media reports said.

By:IANS