It lies 130 kilometres (81 mi) away from Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan.

[citation needed] On 29 October 2008, at around 4 am, Ziarat and surrounding areas were struck by an earthquake doublet.

Landslides cut off many roads, making the area less accessible to emergency responders.

[3][4] Ziarat is surrounded by the lush green Ziarat Juniper Forest, known locally as Sanober, home to the largest area of Juniper forest (Juniperus seravschanica) in Pakistan, covering about 110,000 hectares.

Ziarat has a continental climate (Koppen: Dsa) and remains quite cool in summer compared to other cities in Pakistan.