Massive 7.8 Earthquake In Iran Felt Across The Middle East [VIDEO]

A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the mountainous Iran-Pakistan border region Tuesday. The quake, centered near the Iranian city of Khash, was so strong it was felt across the nearby border in Pakistan as well as in India and throughout parts of the Middle East, reports confirm.

Iran, a country quite prone to earthquakes because of its location at the intersection of major tectonic plates, has not seen an earthquake of this magnitude in 35 years when a 1978 earthquake in Tabas killed 15,000.

Fatality and casualty reports from today's quake are murky, with conflicting information being reported across world media.

An Iranian official quoted by Reuters said they were expecting hundreds of dead.

The BBC, reportedly citing Iranian state TV, said at least 40 were killed. Earthquake-report.com disputes that number as a misreporting of data from last week's earthquake in a different part of Iran. At least five were killed in Pakistan, according to multiple sources.

All communications to the region have reportedly been severed.

Very few people live near the epicenter, according to Earthquake-Report, but hundreds of thousands live within 100 km (62 miles) of the center.

The quake struck at a depth of 82 km (51 miles) at 3:14 p.m. local time near the cities of Khash, population 290,000 and Saravan, with 173,000 residents, according to data from Earthquake-Report.

Tremors were reportedly felt as far away as New Delhi, India, some 2,250 km (1,398 miles) away.

A 6.3-magnitude quake last week in southwest Iran killed at least 37 and injured at least 850.

The video below purports to show some of the damage from today's quake.