TEHRAN, April 16: A powerful earthquake rattled southeastern Iran and was felt across the Gulf and South Asia on Tuesday, reports from around the region said.
Iran´s Seismological Centre reported on its website that the 7.5 magnitude quake struck at 3:14 pm (1044 GMT) about 80 kilometres (50 miles) the border with Pakistan and Afghanistan. [break]
It also shook buildings and forced high-rise offices to be evacuated in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, as well as across northern India, including the capital New Delhi where tremors rattled buildings and caused office-workers to run into the streets.
The website of the US Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 7.8, and said it struck near the Iranian city of Khash, in the southeastern province of Sistan Baluchistan.
The head of Iran´s Red Crescent rescue corps, Mahmoud Mozafar, told ISNA news agency that evaluation teams were dispatched to the affected area.
The quake also shook large parts of Pakistan including Islamabad, where buildings swayed, and the largest city Karachi, where tremors also prompted many to flee buildings in terror.
The earthquake was not felt in the Iranian capital Tehran, however.
It comes a week after a strong earthquake struck near Iran´s Gulf port city of Bushehr, killing at least 30 people and injuring 800 but leaving Iran´s only nuclear power plant intact.
Related story
Iran asks West to leave Persian Gulf as tensions heightened
