A big earthquake has struck southern Pakistan. A magnitude 7.7 seismic event has killed at least 30 people in Balochistan Province and been felt around much of the region.
This is a big earthquake but the death toll may not rise too high (though any deaths are a tragedy for the people involved). This area is sparsely populated and poor; many of the houses are low-rise and made of mud so when they collapse in the shaking, they are less likely to kill than stone structures. There is a real danger though of more people dieing in the aftermath of the event from food, shelter and water shortages than died in the earthquake itself.
UPDATE: 25/9/13
The death toll has , unsurprisingly, risen to over 200 at the latest count. More surprising has been the appearance of a new island off the coast of Pakistan. As the stress has changed in the plate, it has deformed to push the sea bed above sea level to make new land.
A slideshow of photographs from the area affected.
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