SRINAGAR: With Kashmir experiencing mild tremors during the past few days, experts here have not ruled out a major earthquake hitting the occupied Kashmir in near future. The experts say that the frequency of earthquakes gives an indication of a major catastrophe in the distant future.

Geological expert, Dr Mohammad Ismail Bhat said, “We are living in an active seismic zone and with frequent tremors, some pressure is building within the faultlines, which indicates that a major earthquake may hit Kashmir in the distant future”. The Project Coordinator UNDP/ Disaster Management Cell, Kashmir, Aamir Ali said there is no conclusion about a major tremblor taking place in Kashmir that can be drawn just because there has been mild tremors occurring here during the past few days.

The mild tremors were experienced on Fridan and Saturday. Prior to that, a mild quake was also experienced on Feburary 20 and 25. After these tremors, the rumours are afloat in Srinagar that a major quake may hit Kashmir anytime now.”Earthquakes cannot be predicted despite research being done worldwide in this regard”, Aamir observed.

He underlined the fact that the people in this part of the world have to come to terms with the reality that they live in an area which falls in a seismically highly sensitive zone.He added that the people need to develop proper understanding surrounding this fact and they need to cooperate with the government to avoid confusions and misinformation rather than adding to the problems by causing panic among people.

“We have to accept that we are living in an earthquake prone area, when and where an earthquake will strike and what will be its magnitude, is only known to the Almighty. We must take enough precautions to avoid large-scale devastation in the eventuality of a disaster. Despite these precautions, future earthquakes may still cause damage to buildings”, added Aamir.-SANA