IIOJK: Frequent earthquakes in the Ladakh region of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir have set alarm bells ringing among the locals with experts calling for increasing preparedness levels to minimise the loss of lives in case of high magnitude tremors.
According to Kashmir Media Service, at least a dozen earthquakes and aftershocks have been felt in Ladakh since December 2, which has created fear among the people.
On Tuesday morning, an earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale hit the Leh region of Ladakh. The location of the earthquake was Leh while the depth was 5 km. However, there were no reports of any damage caused by the earthquake in the area.
On December 19, a mild-intensity earthquake hit Kargil district of Ladakh, which was the fifth one in the region within two days.
Director of Meteorological Center Leh, Sonam Lotus, has said that there is no need to panic about the frequent tremors felt in IIOJK. He said that Ladakh falls in seismic zone IV and given the vulnerabilities of the region, it was best to be prepared to deal with any such natural disaster. “We need to view the earthquakes and aftershocks positively and take precautionary measures, such as constructing our houses based on seismically approved designs to minimise losses,” he added.
Faizan Arif, who operates a Kashmir weather channel, said these small earthquakes are a reminder for us to build earthquake-resilient structures.
