A 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck the Leh area of Lada- kh on Monday, with tremors felt across parts of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. Mukhtar Ahmad, Director of the local Meteorological Department, said the quake occurred at 11:51 am at coor- dinates 36.71°N latitude and 74.32°E longitude, at a depth of 171 km within the Earth’s crust.
“Shocks were felt to vary- ing degrees across Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. So far, there are no reports of casualties or property damage,” Ahmad added. Parts of Ladakh and Kash- mir lie in seismologically sensitive zones, making them prone to earthquakes.
A major earthquake struck the region on October 8, 2005, registering 7.6 on the Richter scale, with its epicentre in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The tremor devastated Mu- zaffarabad town, severely affected nearby Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and caused casualties in Jammu and Kashmir, Afghanistan, and surrounding areas.
The 2005 quake remains one of the deadliest in the region, claiming over 73,000 lives in Pakistan, more than 1,300 in India, and four in Afghanistan, leaving mil- lions homeless. Officials are continuing to moni- tor the situation following Monday’s tremor and have advised residents to remain alert, although no immediate damage has been reported.
