An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9 on the Richter scale shook Jammu and Kashmir on Friday, causing widespread panic among residents who rushed out of their homes. The tremors were felt not only in the Kashmir Valley but also in the Jammu division. Fortunately, there have been no reports of casualties or damage to property so far.
Officials are actively collecting information from various districts and remote areas of Jammu and Kashmir to assess the impact of the earthquake. The seismic event originated in the Afghanistan-Tajikistan region and struck at 9:42 p.m., with its epicenter located 150 km beneath the Earth’s surface. The coordinates of the epicenter were recorded at latitude 36.29 degrees north and longitude 70.87 degrees east.
The Kashmir Valley is known to be prone to earthquakes due to its seismically active location along the Himalayan boundary. Past earthquakes in the region have caused significant devastation, with the most notable being a 7.6 magnitude earthquake in 2005 that resulted in over 80,000 fatalities and numerous injuries. The town of Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir was severely impacted by that earthquake, being reduced to rubble.
Kashmir’s history is marked by a series of destructive earthquakes, with records dating back 5,000 years. In 1555, a devastating earthquake caused widespread damage and loss of life in the region. Subsequent earthquakes in 1885 and 1905 further reinforced the area’s vulnerability to seismic events. The ongoing tectonic interactions between the Indian and Eurasian plates continue to pose a significant risk to the Kashmir Valley.
