Leh: Two medium intensity earthquakes struck Ladakh’s Leh within four hours on Thursday morning (August 13). The first quake of magnitude 5.5 on the Richter scale hit Leh at 6:05 am today, according to the National Center of Seismology (NCS). It occurred at a depth of 10 km.
“EQ of M: 5.5, On: 13/08/2026 06:05:15 IST, Lat: 36.881 N, Long: 74.402 E, Depth: 10 Km, Location: Leh, Ladakh,” the NCS said in an X post. Panic gripped the region after tremors.
There were no reports of any injuries or collateral damage in that earthquake.
Almost three hours later another earthquake of magnitude 4.3 on the Richter scale again struck Leh at around 9:54 AM at a depth of 10 k, as per the NCS.
Notably, Ladakh falls in a seismically active zone.
As per the updated seismic zonation map of India, the entire Himalayan arc falls within the highest seismic risk category, Seismic Zone VI, reflecting its extremely high tectonic activity and vulnerability to strong earthquakes. Only a small portion of the Ladakh region in the north-eastern corner falls under Seismic Zone V, which is the second-highest seismic hazard category.
According to the Ministry of Earth Sciences, In view of the high-risk seismic categorisation of the Himalayan region, the Government has undertaken several focused initiatives to strengthen earthquake monitoring, hazard assessment, and preparedness.
“These measures include the expansion and upgradation of the seismic monitoring network across Himalayas, the conduct of detailed regional seismic hazard assessments, enhancement of strong-motion instrumentation, and improvement of data acquisition systems to enable precise detection and analysis of seismic events. In addition, various scientific studies relating to site response, fault mapping, and regional source characterisation have been carried out to support disaster risk reduction efforts and facilitate informed planning and development in the Himalayan region. Seismic Microzonation studies conducted by NCS for selected cities, help to identify differential ground-shaking characteristics at the local level, thereby assisting in safe land-use planning, infrastructure design, and mitigation strategies,” the Ministry had said last year while replying to a question in Parliament.