Daijiworld Media Network - Srinagar

Srinagar, Jan 19: A moderate earthquake struck the Ladakh region on Monday, registering 5.7 on the Richter scale, with tremors felt across Ladakh and several parts of Jammu and Kashmir. The quake caused brief panic among residents, though no loss of life or property damage has been reported so far.

According to Mukhtar Ahmad, Director of the local Meteorological Department, the earthquake occurred at 11:51 am. The epicentre was located in the Leh area of Ladakh at latitude 36.71 degrees north and longitude 74.32 degrees east. He said the tremor originated at a depth of around 171 kilometres beneath the Earth’s surface.

Shaking was experienced with varying intensity across Ladakh and the Kashmir Valley. Officials confirmed that normalcy was quickly restored and there were no immediate reports of casualties or structural damage.

Both Ladakh and parts of Jammu and Kashmir fall within seismically active zones, making the region vulnerable to frequent earthquakes of low to moderate intensity.

The region has witnessed devastating seismic events in the past. One of the most catastrophic earthquakes occurred on October 8, 2005, when a powerful 7.6-magnitude quake struck Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir at 8:50 am. The disaster flattened large parts of Muzaffarabad, severely affected Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and caused widespread destruction in Jammu and Kashmir.

That earthquake, which reached a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), was felt across Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and China’s Xinjiang region. The massive damage was attributed to intense vertical ground movement.

Though not the strongest quake recorded in the region, the 2005 disaster is regarded as the deadliest, surpassing even the 1935 Quetta earthquake. It ranked as the fifth-deadliest natural disaster of that decade.

Official estimates suggest that between 73,276 and 87,350 people lost their lives in Pakistan, with some reports placing the death toll above 100,000. In India, the quake claimed 1,360 lives and injured 6,266 people, while four fatalities were reported from Afghanistan. Overall, nearly 3.5 million people were rendered homeless and around 138,000 sustained injuries.