An earthquake measuring 5.4 magnitude on the Richter scale jolted several cities in Balochistan on Saturday, National Seismic Monitoring Centre said.

According to the centre, the quake's epicentre was located 38 km northeast of the provincial capital of Quetta and its focal depth was determined as 10 km. The temblor struck at 7.56 am with a longitude of 67.34 east and latitude of 30.35 north, the centre said.

Besides Quetta, the strong tremors were also felt in different areas of the province including Mastung, Killa Abdullah and Pishin districts.

Speaking to Xinhua, Director General of Pakistan Meteorological Department Muhammad Riaz said that it was a shallow earthquake and may cause losses if the epicentre is located in a populated area, which is being checked.

Police sources from Quetta said that the impact of the quake in the district and adjoining areas are being checked.

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The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
A second report was later issued by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), which listed it as a magnitude 5.2 earthquake.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should have been widely felt by almost everyone in the area of the epicenter. It might have caused light to moderate damage. Moderate shaking probably occurred in Alik Ghund located 15 km from the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Pishin located 42 km from the epicenter, Quetta 45 km away, Khadan Khak 49 km away, Machh 61 km away, Harnai 63 km away, Chaman 106 km away and Sibi 107 km away.
The disaster management authority said they were looking to see if the quake caused any damage in the affected districts.

Quetta was devastated by a massive earthquake in 1935.

Pakistan has a bad history of serious earthquakes, as it is located at one of the most earthquake-prone areas with high vulnerability to earthquakes.

No rehab work even after 3 months in quake-hit town

People of Basima town a tehsil in Washuk District of Balochistan are still waiting for rehabilitation promises made by the authorities after a 5.4 magnitude earthquake hit the twon in August, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Saturday.

The TV channel reported that when the earthquake hit the area in Sajid and Zayyak in August, people were sleeping outside their muddy homes because of the hot weather at that time and fortunately no causality was reported.

However, despite the passage of three months, the residents of Basima town are now irked at the initiation of rehab work by the Balochistan authorities.

It is important to mention that this town lies just 9 kilometres from N-85 and N-30 National Highway which is the route of the $64 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The TV channel reported neither any government support nor any non-governmental organization reached the area for people’s help and amid the harsh winter weather people are now forced to live under miserable conditions and some are sleeping under the open sky.

According to a report by the National Disaster Management Authority, the quake struck at a depth of 40km with its epicentre located 68km northwest of Khuzdar in August. 

Washuk deputy commissioner Nisar Ahmed said that at around 3.40am an earthquake struck different areas of Basima. The severity of the earthquake was quite high in Sajid and Zayyak areas.