Makran Thrust Belt
Iran / Pakistan · accretionary thrust belt · 12433.7 km of mapped active fault in 76 traces
background as of 7 November 2026.
consistent with baseline
| Window | the last 30.0 days |
|---|---|
| Earthquakes counted | 1 at M4.5 or above |
| Expected in that window | 0.30 |
| Rate against normal | 3.33x |
| Largest | M5.7 |
What this system normally does
From 1995 to 2025 the catalogue holds 111 earthquakes of M4.5 or larger attributable to this system: about 3.70 a year. That figure is what "elevated" on this page is measured against.
The fault itself
| Mapped length | 12433.7 km |
|---|---|
| Traces | 76 |
| Tectonic setting | accretionary thrust belt |
| Slip types | Anticline, Reverse, Sinistral-Reverse |
| Depth attributed to it | down to 50.0 km |
| Extent | 22.68 to 28.84 latitude, 56.89 to 67.56 longitude |
Recorded history
NOAA's hazard records hold 9 significant earthquakes and 2 tsunamis attributed to this system since 1945.
The deadliest was the 24 September 2013 magnitude 7.7 earthquake (Pakistan: Awaran, Kech), which killed 825 people.
The strongest earthquake on record here was magnitude 8.0, on 27 November 1945 (Pakistan: Makran Coast).
The most recent entry is the 6 May 2022 magnitude 5.1 earthquake (Pakistan: Khuzdar).
Across the entries that record a death toll, 1,149 people died.
| Date | What | Where | Toll |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 September 2013 | magnitude 7.7 earthquake | Pakistan: Awaran, Kech | 825 dead, 32,638 homes destroyed, $100 million damage |
| 24 September 2013 | tsunami (waves to 0.6 m) | off Coast Gwadar | 825 dead, 32,638 homes destroyed, $100 million damage |
| 27 November 1945 | tsunami (waves to 17 m) | Makran Coast | 300 dead, $25 million damage |
| 27 November 1945 | magnitude 8.0 earthquake | Pakistan: Makran Coast | 300 dead, $25 million damage |
| 28 September 2013 | magnitude 6.8 earthquake | Pakistan: Awaran | 22 dead |
| 11 May 2013 | magnitude 6.1 earthquake | Iran: Hormozgan: Bashagard | 2 dead, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 5 August 1947 | magnitude 7.6 earthquake | Pakistan: Gwadar | - |
| 7 February 2017 | magnitude 6.3 earthquake | Pakistan: Pasni | 20 homes destroyed, damage under $1 million |
| 17 June 1990 | magnitude 6.3 earthquake | Pakistan: Baluchistan | damage under $1 million |
| 6 May 2022 | magnitude 5.1 earthquake | Pakistan: Khuzdar | 100 homes destroyed, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 16 October 1986 | magnitude 4.5 earthquake | Pakistan: Khuzdar | 150 homes destroyed, damage under $1 million |
A dash means NOAA recorded no number, not that nobody died. Older entries are fewer because fewer were written down, not because less happened.
Recorded history: NOAA NCEI hazard databases, public domain, retrieved 2026-10-22.
Who to listen to if you live here
NDMA, National Disaster Management Authority is the agency that tells people on this system what to do. https://www.ndma.gov.pk/ (in English)
Where these numbers come from
Fault geometry, length and segment counts: GEM Global Active Faults Database (GEM GAF-DB), GEM Foundation, https://github.com/GEMScienceTools/gem-global-active-faults Licence: CC-BY-SA-4.0. Figures derived from it here are offered under the same licence. Earthquake counts, magnitudes and depths: United States Geological Survey, public domain. The activity judgement is ours, computed from those two inputs, and is not a statement by either agency.