Earthquake happened due to fault running through Kashmir

SRINAGAR — Noted Seismologist Dr Bikram Singh on Wednesday said Tuesday’s earthquake occurred due to a fault which runs through Kashmir but its epicenter was yet to be located.

Strong tremors were felt across Srinagar on Tuesday evening after an earthquake of magnitude 3.6 hit Kashmir.

The National Centre for Seismology said that the quake occurred at a depth of 5 km from the surface at 9:40 PM.

Seismologist Dr Bikram Singh, who teaches at Earth Sciences Department of Kashmir University, said the reason for the earthquake was fault that runs through Kashmir.

“There are many faults in Kashmir. We can’t say which fault is responsible for the earthquake till we know the epicenter,” Dr Bikram said.

“When there is displacement of strata down, there many changes which occur in the geometry and sometimes gas may erupt with a bang. The earthquake happens due to displacement of rocks as fault has slipped somewhere,” he said.

He, however, said he could not locate the epicenter. “The information provided by NSC, New Delhi indicated that the epicenter of the earthquake was five kilometers from Mujgund. But we could not locate the epicenter and we cannot say which fault has slipped and where,” he added.

He said they got to know about these faults by ground penetrating radars.

On Tuesday evening, panicked residents rushed out of their homes after strong jolts were felt. Initially, there were conflicting conjectures about what exactly caused the tremors, with several social media users speculating it was a blast or an explosion.

According to the Indian Meteorological Department, most parts of Kashmir covering the districts of Srinagar, Ganderbal, Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora, Budgam, Anantnag and parts of Jammu region, Doda, Ramban, Kishtwar come under Seismic Zone V and are prone to earthquakes.