[2][3] The moment magnitude 5.9 Mww quake struck in the early morning at 03:01 local time, killing at least 42 people and injuring 300 others.
In the Balochistan region, the convergence is highly oblique, involving the large Chaman Fault; a left-lateral strike-slip structure.
While a large portion of the boundary is accommodated by strike-slip faulting, the region also hosts the Sulaiman fold and thrust belt.
Major thrusting and folding have occurred within the ~10-km-thick sedimentary rocks which sits atop the India-Eurasia plate boundary; a near-horizontal, north-dipping décollement.
[10] The GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences placed the earthquake magnitude at Mw 5.8 at 10 km depth with a moment tensor solution indicating thrust faulting.
According to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) (PDMA), severe damage was reported in the Harnai District and Shahrag area, where 10,000 mud homes were destroyed.
[15] Provincial Minister Mir Ziaullah Langau said landslides have blocked roads leading to the affected region, disrupting rescue and recovery efforts.
[16] The majority of homes in the affected region were constructed of mud and stone, making them vulnerable to collapse or severe damage from earthquakes.
The Deputy Commissioner at Government of Balochistan, Suhail Anwar Hashmi said that most of the fatalities resulted from roof and wall collapses.
[27] Provincial officials in Balochistan announced that 200,000 Pakistani rupees (approximately 1,170 US dollars) would be compensated to the families of each deceased individual.
[28] Sania Nishtar, a Pakistani physician, was to pay a visit to the affected area on instructions by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, where she would meet the victims and provide relief.
[30] A relief package of 12,000 Pakistani rupees was approved by the government of Pakistan and is planned to be distributed to each affected family.
[32] Mining in the Harnai district was brought to a temporary ban by the Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation from October 12 to 19.