NAWABSHAH: An earth-quake 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.

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, during which people left their homes in panic reciting verses from the Holy Quran.

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

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.