Earthquake of 5.0 magnitude felt near China-Ladakh border

An earthquake of 5.0 magnitude was recorded near the China-Ladakh border on Thursday night at 10:26 PM. Tremors of this earthquake were also felt in some areas of Jammu and Kashmir. According to a report by 'Kashmir Weather', the epicenter of the earthquake was in the Xinjiang region of China at 35.587 degrees north latitude and 78.130 degrees east longitude, at a depth of 164 kilometers from the ground.

Due to the moderate intensity of the earthquake and its epicenter being at a depth, no reports of major damage or casualties were received till late night. In addition to this, mild tremors of earthquakes were also felt in other parts of the country on Thursday. According to the National Center for Seismology (NCS), an earthquake of 2.9 magnitude occurred in Faridabad, Delhi-NCR at 6:33 PM and of 3.2 magnitude in the sea of Lakshadweep at 7:54 PM. Due to the very low intensity, most people did not experience these tremors.

For the past few months, a worrying increase in earthquake activity has been observed in the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding Himalayan regions. Earlier on 22 October, a devastating earthquake of 7.0 magnitude was recorded in Tibet, 400 kilometers away from Lhasa, whose epicenter was at a depth of 173 kilometers. Currently, the entire Himalayan region is constantly facing natural disasters. In the month of August, a devastating flood occurred near the Nepal-Tibet border due to the breaking of glaciers and rocks, in which more than 1,455 people lost their lives in Nepal and thousands of people went missing.

Environmental experts believe that due to the rapid melting of glaciers caused by the increase in global temperatures and unexpected changes in weather, the risk of such natural disasters is continuously increasing in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the entire Himalayan region.