Quetta

Summer resort and capital of Baluchistan, west Pakistan, lying at 1,525 m/5,000 ft above sea level, 35 km/20 mi northwest of the Bolan Pass and 590 km/367 mi north of Karachi; population (1998 est) 560,300. Strategically placed on the trade route between Afghanistan and the Lower Indus valley, Quetta controls the Bolan Pass as well as the loss-used Khojak Pass. It is an important commercial centre, and has rail links with Afghanistan and Iran, and in 1982 a gas pipeline to Shikarpur in Sind was built. Quetta is a centre for fruit growing and canning, mining, and trading in wood, carpets, and leather. There is a military staff college and the University of Baluchistan. In May 1935 an earthquake devastated the city, killing over 20,000 people.

The British gained control of the city in 1876, and Quetta continued as capital of the British province of Baluchistan until 1947, when the province became part of Pakistan.

The 1935 earthquake had a magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter scale and resulted in a large number of deaths. Lesser earthquakes have followed, including one in 1997.