The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reports that a 7.7 magnitude earthquake has shaken the southwestern portion of Pakistan. The earthquake struck the area at 16:29 local time Tuesday, September 24, 2013 at a depth of 15 miles under Pakistan's geographically largest but least populated province of Balochistan. The earth shook for about 2 minutes. The city nearest to the epicenter is Karachi, Pakistan with a population of 11.6 million people. The USGS reports that the earthquake is a result of an "olique-strike-slip motion at shallow crustal depths".
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reports that a 7.7 magnitude earthquake has shaken the southwestern portion of Pakistan. The earthquake struck the area at 16:29 local time Tuesday, September 24, 2013 at a depth of 15 miles under Pakistan's geographically largest but least populated province of Balochistan. The earth shook for about 2 minutes. The city nearest to the epicenter is Karachi, Pakistan with a population of 11.6 million people. The USGS reports that the earthquake is a result of an "olique-strike-slip motion at shallow crustal depths".
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Fatality reports are still coming in but initial reports are putting the death toll at 30 and the roofs of more than 30% of the homes in the district of Awaran have collapsed. The death count is expected to increase as search and rescue operations continue. Damage is anticipated to be extensive.
Underpinning this area are at least four tectonic plates: Arabia, Eurasia, India and Africa. Scientists believe that this particular quake is "consistent with a rupture within the Eurasia plate above the Makran subduction zone". This particular section of the Eurasia plate has not seen any recent damaging earthquakes, although the entire area is relatively speaking quite seismically active. Generally, tectonic activity in this region is due to tectonic plate collisions of the India and Eurasia plates as the India plate moves northwards towards the Eurasia plate.
Tremors have been felt as far away as New Delhi, India. Aftershocks of up to 5 magnitude on the Richter scale are anticipated.
Image from Google maps
