Is seismic zone 5, Kashmir, able to withstand strong earthquake jolts?

Sameer Ahmad

Anantnag: The large portions of South and Central Kashmir, specifically the districts of Srinagar and Anantnag fall in the most vulnerable Seismic Zone 5- which is prone to natural disasters (earthquakes) that are caused by the movement of plates. The movement of the plates can cause a significant build-up of stress and strain in the Earth’s crust that is eventually released in the form of earthquakes.

Seismic Zone 5 covers the areas with the highest risk of earthquakes of intensity. It is referred to as the Very High Damage Risk Zone. The seismic Zone-5 falls in the regions of entire northeastern India, parts of Jammu and Kashmir Anantnag and Srinagar, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, part of North Bihar and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

In the aftermath of a devastating and deadly earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria, a natural catastrophe that led to the death of more than 35,000 and the numbers still rising, one pertinent question is going around in the mind of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, can we ready to bear the high-intensity earthquake?

Given that the Kashmir region especially the Anantnag and Srinagar area falls in Seismic Zone 5, which are prone to natural disaster like an earthquake, the high level of seismicity makes it more vulnerable to earthquakes. About a dozen of earthquakes from the last two years have raised alarm and concern about the structural stability of buildings in Kashmir, said Rao Farman Ali a Researcher working for peace building from South Kashmir’s Anantnag District.

Rao said that already a section of the media had reported exclusively about the safety audit of government infrastructure in 2022 as a part of learning from the October 2005 earthquake,(4 to 7 September 2014 deluge) but nothing has been practically done so far.

There is an urgent need to issue a notification vis a vis structural audit of all buildings rising above a certain level, without any further delay, to examine their seismic stability. There are specific norms for design, construction materials, etc, mentioned in the National Building Code of India and even in international settings. Almost all builders don’t adhere to these specifications, however, either in hurry to finish their projects on time or for cost-saving intentions, he said.

Added that the JK is already dangerously placed in the nuclear triangle of the upstream dams mainly for hydroelectricity and in certain cases for irrigation or unfortunately vulnerable to the earthquakes and experts say that a consentient safety assessment has not taken place based on mutual trust with  3C coordination, cooperation, and commitment.

The breaches to the upstream dams if caused by the high-intensity earthquake has the potential to trigger a nuclear cataclysm in the region because the three countries India, China, and Pakistan despite having geographical contiguity lack people-to-people contact mechanism although in the form of non kinetic template out of necessary compulsion, however huge trust deficit is a factor responsible to it otherwise any disaster is the early warning system has a natural tendency to link people nations scats towards humanism with the shared value system, Rao said.

Meanwhile, talking to the Arising state Zubair Ahmad Area commandant home guards and Deputy Controller civil defense in charge SDRF Anantnag said that there is no need to panic in Jammu and Kashmir, it is very difficult to predict earthquakes, however, it is correct that when you fall in seismic zone 5 one should be aware, prepared and to take the safety measures to bear the jolts.

The safety audit of buildings is the need of the hour,it is crucial that the Structural audit of buildings including the hospitals should be done to ensure that they are resilient to quakes.

Added that awareness is the most important thing and the people who are living in seismic zone 5, should be aware of how to take safety measures during the earthquake.