M 7.7 - 113 km NW of Bela, Pakistan
- 2013-09-24 11:29:47 (UTC)
- 26.951°N 65.501°E
- 15.0 km depth
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- Magnitude
- 7.7 mww
- Depth
- 15.0 km
- Time
- 2013-09-24 11:29:47 UTC
Moment Tensor Fault Plane Solution Finite Fault 
Cross-section of slip distribution. View Nearby Seismicity - Time Range
± Three Weeks - Search Radius
250.0 km - Magnitude Range
≥ 4.0
Contributors US
USGS National Earthquake Information Center, PDE
Tectonic Summary
The September 24, 2013, M 7.7 earthquake in south-central Pakistan occurred as the result of oblique strike-slip type motion at shallow crustal depths. The location, focal mechanism solutions, and finite-fault modeling of the earthquake are consistent with left-lateral (southwest-striking) rupture within the Eurasia plate above the Makran subduction zone. The event occurred within the transition zone between northward subduction of the Arabia plate beneath the Eurasia plate and northward collision of the India plate with the Eurasia plate. The epicenter of the event is 69 km north of Awaran, Pakistan, and 270 km north of Karachi, Pakistan (population 11.6 million).
On a broad scale, the tectonics of southern and central Pakistan reflect a complex plate boundary where the India plate slides northward relative to the Eurasia plate in the east, and the Arabia plate subducts northward beneath the Eurasia plate in the Makran (western Pakistan). These motions typically result in north-south to northeast-southwest strike-slip motion at the location of the September 24th earthquake that is primarily accommodated on the Chaman fault, with the earthquake potentially occurring on one of the southernmost strands of this fault system. Further, more in-depth studies will be required to identify the precise fault associated with this event.
While commonly plotted as points on maps, earthquakes of this size are more appropriately described as slip over a larger fault area. Strike-slip events of the size of the September 24, 2013, earthquake are typically about 160x20 km (length x width); modeling of this earthquake implies dimensions of about 200x20 km, predominantly up-dip and southwest of the hypocenter.
Although seismically active, this portion of the Eurasia plate boundary region has not experienced large damaging earthquakes in the recent history. Over the past 40 years, only one significant event (M 6.1), which killed six, has occurred within 200 km of the September 2013 event, in July 1990.
Hayes et al. (2016) Tectonic summaries of magnitude 7 and greater earthquakes from 2000 to 2015, USGS Open-File Report 2016-1192. (5.2 MB PDF)
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