J&K, along with Ladakh, experience a series of five earthquakes, including two back-to-back tremors, within a span of 24 hours

The region of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh was hit by five mild-intensity earthquakes within 24 hours, with 4.5 being the highest magnitude of all. The first tremor was felt after an earthquake of magnitude 3.0 hit Jammu and Kashmir at 2.03pm on Saturday.

An official of the meteorological department said the epicentre of the 3.0 magnitude tremor, which occurred at 2.03 pm, was hilly Ramban district along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway.

He said the depth of the earthquake was five kilometres below the surface at a latitude of 33.31 degrees north and a longitude of 75.19 degrees east.

The second jolt struck 271km northeast of Leh, Laddakh with a magnitude of 4.5 at around 9.44pm.

Within 15 minutes of the quake near the India-China border, the Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir was hit by a 4.4-magnitude earthquake at 9.55pm.

This was the seventh earthquake in the Doda district over the past five days.

The National Center for Seismology tweeted: “Earthquake of Magnitude:4.4, Occurred on 17-06-2023, 21:55:39 IST, Lat: 33.04 & Long: 75.70, Depth: 18 Km, Location: Doda, Jammu and Kashmir.”

In the wee hours of Sunday, an earthquake of magnitude 4.1 again jolted the region with its epicentre near the India-China border, 295km northeast of Leh district in Ladakh.

The fifth and last seismic activity was observed near Katra in Jammu and Kashmir. An earthquake of magnitude 4.1 struck 80km east of Katra at 3.50am at a depth of 11 km.

The NCS tweeted: “Earthquake of Magnitude:4.1, Occurred on 18-06-2023, 03:50:29 IST, Lat: 32.96 & Long: 75.79, Depth: 11 Km, Location: 80km E of Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, India.”