ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — The United States Geological Service has reported a major earthquake in a remote area in southwestern Pakistan measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale.
The earthquake struck at 1:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday in Baluchistan province near the border with Afghanistan.
Local TV reports said the earthquake was felt in several provinces in the country.
Initial reports of damage were not yet available.
Earthquakes often rattle the region. A magnitude 7.6 quake on Oct. 8, 2005, killed about 80,000 people in northwestern Pakistan and Kashmir and left more than 3 million homeless.