KARACHI: The powerful earthquake that jolted several parts of the country early on Wednesday could return with aftershocks, Chief Metrologist Mohammad Riaz warned on Wednesday.

He said it was surprising that there was only one aftershock after the magnitude 7.4 earthquake, which was recorded almost an hour after the quake hit at 1:23am.

“In 2008 earthquake in Quetta and earlier in 2005 in Kashmir and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, we witnessed more than 100 aftershocks within a day,” said Mr Riaz.

“Surprisingly as well as fortunately we have not witnessed the same trend in this earthquake as the only aftershock was witnessed at 2.34am of 3.9 magnitude at Richter scale. But after such a strong earthquake, the possibility is always there.”

The powerful earthquake, with its epicentre 55km west of Dalbandin and 263km from Kalat, was felt in most parts of the country. The tremors that lasted almost a minute forced people in Karachi – mainly occupants of high-rise buildings – and other parts of the country to come out in the open.

“Cracks emerged in a few buildings of the city which are mostly situated in old city area and are vulnerable,” said an official of the Karachi city government’s urban search and rescue centre.

“But no major damage was witnessed in any part of the city. We even coordinated with charity organisations and they too came up with the same finding.”

Tremors were also felt as far away as New Delhi and Dubai.

AFP adds: Terrified residents in remote parts of Balochistan described the panic as people fled their homes, reciting verses from the holy Quran and preparing for an aftershock.

“The quake jolted our homes, we rushed out in panic but it caused no damage,” Waheed Murad, a resident of Sibi, said.