NAWABSHAH: An earthquake measuring a 4.2 on the Richter scale struck several areas of Sindh province on Friday, leaving at least one person dead and nine others injured, police sources told Dawn.

According to meteorological officials, the quake was reported at 1:24am Friday. The epicentre of the quake was located 60 kilometres northeast of Nawabshah, at a focal depth of 20km, the National Seismic Monitoring and Tsunami Early Warning Centre said.

Nawabshah, Jamshoro, Hyderabad, Matyari and adjoining areas were hit by the quake, DawnNews reported.

In Jamshoro district, the rooftops and walls of several houses, a hospital, a police station and mosque either developed cracks or suffered damaged following the earthquake, a police source told Dawn.

All casualties of the earthquake belonged to Jamshoro district. The injured were taken to Civil Hospital Hyderabad for treatment.

The deceased was identified as Wasim Memon, 23, whereas the injured include Rabia, 30, Sajida, 25, Begum Nisa, Komal, Ali Bux, Rafiq, Nawaz, Faqeero, Rizwan and Yasin Memon.

Begum Nisa and Komal have been discharged from the hospital according to doctors at the casualty ward, whereas Rabia and Sajida are still admitted.

Pakistan is located in the Indus-Tsangpo Suture Zone, which is roughly 200km north of the Himalaya Front and is defined by an exposed ophiolite chain along its southern margin.

This region has the highest rates of seismicity and largest earthquakes in the Himalaya region, caused mainly by movement on thrust faults.

Along the western margin of the Tibetan Plateau, in the vicinity of south-eastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan, the South Asian plate translates obliquely relative to the Eurasia plate, resulting in a complex fold-and-thrust belt known as the Sulaiman Range.

Faulting in this region includes strike-slip, reverse-slip and oblique-slip motion and often results in shallow, destructive earthquakes.