At least 40 are dead after a major earthquake struck Tuesday near the Iran-Pakistan border, Iranian state-run Press TV says.

An Iranian official told Reuters that hundreds more are feared dead. State-run Pakistan Television, meanwhile, said at least six people were killed on its side of the border and at least 47 others were injured. Up to 1,000 mud homes were damaged, it added.

The U.S. Geological Survey put the preliminary magnitude of the earthquake at 7.8 and at a depth of nine miles, and Iran’s seismological center said it was centered near Saravan, a sparsely populated area about 26 miles from the Pakistani border. Iranian state TV said power and communications systems were down in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan.

Source: FOX News – At least 40 dead in Iran after magnitude-7.8 earthquake, state TV says