ISLAMABAD — An official says the death toll has risen to 39 in a major earthquake in southwestern Pakistan.
The chief spokesman for the country's National Disaster Management Authority, Mirza Kamran Zia, says most of the casualties occurred when houses collapsed on people inside.
Tuesday's quake hit a remote area of Baluchistan province. Baluchistan is the country's largest province but also the least populated.
Pakistani officials put the quake size at magnitude-7.7, while the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colo. reported the quake as magnitude-7.8.