We are literally sitting on a shaky ground! Don’t panic, but it is a reality. The upgrading of the Himalayan region of Jammu and Kashmir from Seismic Zone V to highest risk Zone VI must set alarm bells ringing.

Surrounded by mountains, J&K has been witnessing frequent earthquakes. Who can forget October 8, 2005 when a powerful 7.6 magnitude earthquake rattled the region, claiming thousands of lives and causing massive destruction to structures.

A new study links tectonic tearing under the Tibetan Plateau with rising seismic stress across the Himalayas including J&K. The study ‘The Indian Plate subducting below the Tibet Plateau is tearing apart,’ and is authored by Lin Liu, Danian Shi, and Simon L Klempere.

In J&K, located west of the tear (around 74-77°E), the under-plating process described in the study exacerbates concerns of high-intensity earthquakes. J&K falls under Seismic Zone V, the highest risk category in India’s earlier seismic zoning map. The updated 2025 National Seismic Hazard Map by the Bureau of Indian Standards has elevated the entire Himalayan arc, including J&K, to the newly-created Zone VI.

The study reveals that an “orogen-perpendicular tearing” of the Indian plate along a north-south boundary at approximately 90-92°E longitude; West of 90°E, the Indian lithosphere underplates the Tibetan crust intact, extending about 100 km north of the Yarlung-Zangbo suture.

The orogen-perpendicular........

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