A major earthquake struck a region near the Iran-Pakistan border today, less than a week after a quake in Iran killed at least 37 people. The U.S. Geological Survey said the 7.8 quake struck the slightly populated region.
The tremors were felt as far away as New Delhi and Gulf cities of Muscat, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Doha. The USGS report said Tuesday’s quake was at a depth of 15.2 kilometers.
Meanwhile, officials in Oman have confirmed that a 3.8 magnitude quake shook Oman for a few seconds. They ruled out tsunami as it was an inland quake.
Residents and employees were seen running out of their homes and offices at 2.45 pm (Oman local time) as tremors were felt across Muscat and other major places in the Sultanate. According to some reports, as a precautionary measure, some companies declared holiday for their employees for the day.
Ramesh Kumar, a resident of Ruwi said he was watching television when he felt the tremors and within seconds heard people in the building running out. “All the residents of the building gathered outside and returned back after 20 minutes,” he said.
Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter were abuzz with updates on tremors from various parts of Muscat and near by places.










