A moderate intensity earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale on Thursday shook Kashmir valley, causing panic among the residents but there were no reports of any damage due to it. The epicentre of the earthquake was in Hindukush mountain range in Afghanistan.(TOI said)

Our earth’s surface is made up of rocks/plates. An Earthquake is a sudden, rapid shaking of the earth caused by the breaking and shifting of rocks/plates beneath the earth surface. The epicentre is the point on the Earth’s surface that is directly above place where underground shaking originates.

How severe or mild an earthquake is, is measured on a scale of one to ten. Anymore than 8 is considered as a severe earthquake. Severe Earthquakes on land can make houses and tall weak buildings collapse, roads break, cars crash, trees fall and many other things. The shaking could last for seconds or minutes.

Did you know that Kashmir, is located in highly earthquake-prone Zone.