Police said they received more than 350 telephone calls from panicked people seeking information about an impending quake while people living in old houses spent the night in the open.

Multan police chief Munir Ahmed Chishty said people were alarmed because memories are still fresh of a huge quake in October 2005 that killed 74,000 people in northwestern Pakistan and Kashmir.

"The muezzin (prayer caller) at the main mosque in Multan said he conveyed the message through the mosque's loudspeaker after a man said he had received a phone call that a major earthquake would hit at 3:00 am," he told AFP.

"We don't know where the rumours started. We are investigating," he said.

Panic also gripped the nearby towns of Bahawalpur, Lodhran, Muzaffargarh, Pakpatan, Sahiwal, Jhang and Dera Ghazi Khan, residents said.

"There was a general fear in our area. I also came out with my family and even brought my car outdoors to prevent possible damage," Mohammad Ashar, a mayor in the Bahawalpur district told AFP.

The rumours also forced a local television channel to broadcast a denial from the meteorological department, residents said.

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