Earthquake Today Claims Dozens of Lives Across the Middle East: Reports of 40 Dead So Far

A massive, 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked the Middle East on Tuesday, killing dozens. Located near the south-east city of Khash, close to the border of Iran and Pakistan, the earthquake struck at 3:14 p.m. local time at a depth of 51 miles, according to the United States Geological Survey.

Tall buildings swayed in the Indian capital Delhi while offices were evacuated in Abu Dhabi, according to BBC News. Residents in the southern city of Karachi panicked and fled offices and homes as buildings shook. Currently, all communications to the region have been cut off, making authorities fear that far more have died than have been reported so far.

"I was at home. I was in my bed, and the bed started moving for a good 15 seconds," said Journalist Rabia Ali in an interview with CNN.com. "We realized it was an earthquake and we started evacuating. Everyone came out onto the street and started praying. The children were crying."

The Iranian Red Crescent reported that they're sending 20 search-and-rescue teams with three helicopters to the area in an attempt to help anyone buried beneath the rubble. The Iranian State TV has reported that at least 40 people have been killed so far, but numbers could change as more information becomes available.

A resident in the quake zone, Manouchehr Karimi, told the Associated Press by phone that "the quake period was long" and occurred "when many people were at home to take a midday nap."

This isn't the first time that a quake has rocked the region. In 2003, 26,000 people were killed by a magnitude 6.6 quake that flattened the historic southeastern Iranian city of Bam. This recent event also comes hard on the heels of another earthquake that occurred just last week in southern Iran, which left at least 37 people dead.

A state of emergency has now been declared in the Saravan area. Fortunately, no impact has been reported on any of the nuclear plants in the area, though it's still not clear how much damage has been caused across the region.