Earthquake of 3.6 magnitude jolts J&K's Katra, base camp of cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi [details]

Tremours were observed in Katra town of Jammu and Kashmir in the early morning on Friday, according to National Centre for Seismology.

Katra town of the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir is the base camp of the world-famous cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi. 

Fear gripped residents of the Reasi district after observing tremours early Friday morning, although jolts were observed only for a few seconds.

Reports said that an earthquake with a magnitude of 3.6 on the Richter Scale was recorded at 5.01 am today. The depth of the earthquake was recorded at 10 km.

"Earthquake of Magnitude:3.6, Occurred on 17-02-2023, 05:01:49 IST, Lat: 33.10 & Long: 75.97, Depth: 10 Km, Location: 97km E of Katra, Jammu and Kashmir," National Centre for Seismology said in a tweet.

Katra falls in the fault line

Repeated occurrence of low intensify earthquakes having Katra as epicenter as a matter of concern for the geologists as seismically active Reasi fall in the fault line.

Every time an earthquake hits the Himalayas there is tension among geologists and disaster management experts, rising fears that a big earthquake is still a possibility in the Reasi fault line passing through Katra town in the Reasi district.

Although the entire mountain belt from Hindukush and greater Himalayas to Uttarakhand have become seismically active in recent years, scientists continue to remain worried about the Reasi fault line which is piling up enormous amounts of energy generated by plate movement but has not released it for decades.

Recently a report quoting a geologist, stated that if a major earthquake with an epicenter in Reasi will hit J&K, which is a possibility, it would leave a devastating effect on the Jammu region and Kashmir Valley.  Reports said that the major worry for the geologist is the two capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar.

Katra recorded back-to-back earthquakes last year.

In August 2022, Katra recorded three back-to-back earthquakes in less than eight hours. Today's jolt has again raised fears about the Reasi fault line getting active.

A government report has also revealed that most parts of Kashmir Valley, Doda, Ramban, and Kishtwar come under Seismic Zone V, where around 50 percent of the population of the UT lives. Ladakh UT region and Jammu division are under the Seismic Zone IV.