Iran has been struck by its most powerful earthquake for more than 50 years, with tremors felt across Pakistan, India and the Middle East.

The epicentre of the 7.8-magnitude quake was near the south-eastern city of Khash, close to Pakistan.

The quake struck deep and in a remote region, apparently limiting casualties.

Iranian state TV said 27 people had been injured, but rowed back on early reports of deaths. More than 30 people were killed in Pakistan.

Offices were evacuated in Karachi, Pakistan, in the Indian capital of Delhi, and in several Gulf cities.

The earthquake struck in the province of Sistan Baluchistan at about 15:14 local time (10:44 GMT), close to the cities of Khash, which has a population of nearly 180,000, and Saravan, where 250,000 people live.

“The epicentre of the quake was located in the desert, and population centres do not surround it. There were no fatalities in the towns around the epicentre,” an Iranian crisis centre official, Morteza Akbarpour, was quoted as saying by the Iranian news agency Isna.

Iranian state TV initially reported that 40 people had been killed, and one Iranian official was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying hundreds of deaths were expected.

But Iran’s Red Crescent said it expected limited damage and a low death toll because the earthquake was so deep – the Iranian Seismological Centre estimated the depth at 95km (59 miles).

Iranian scientists said it was the strongest earthquake for more than 50 years.

All communications to the region have been cut, and the Iranian Red Crescent said it was sending 20 search-and-rescue teams with three helicopters to the area.

A resident of Saravan, Yar Ahmad, told BBC Persian that a number of people in the nearby village of Lolokadan had been injured, with broken arms or legs, but only had first aid kits for treatment.

No rescue workers had arrived, and the roads were in poor condition, he said.

Tents and shacks

Sistan Baluchistan is Iran’s biggest province and one its most impoverished areas.

A member of parliament for Saravan, Hedayatollah Mir-Morad Zehi, said there were 1,700 villages in the area, and most of the buildings were made of mud.

Many people in the area live in tents or shacks, which is thought to have limited the number of casualties.

For more on this story go to:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22168202