An earthquake of magnitude 4.3 struck Ladakh's Leh on Thursday, said the National Centre for Seismology (NCS). The quake triggered panic among the locals as this was the second earthquake that struck the union territory (UT) within four hours.
According to the NCS, the earthquake occurred around 9.54 am and struck at a latitude of 36.765 north and a longitude of 75.326 east, with a dept of 10 kilometres.
No report of any kind of damage or casualty has been reported as of now.
Second quake within hours
The first earthquake of 5.5 magnitude struck Ladakh around 6.05 am at a depth of 10 km. The NCS had earlier said the earthquake occurred at a latitude of 36.881 north and a longitude of 74.402 east.
The back-to-back earthquakes triggered panic among the people, with many taking to micro-blogging platform X (formerly Twitter) to express their concerns.
Shallow earthquakes are quite frequent in Ladakh. In January, a similar earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale struck Leh at a depth of 171 km beneath the Earth's surface, but no damage or casualties was reported; although authorities had issued an alert.
Ladakh, a preferable site for tourists
Ladakh is a preferable site for tourists, with the tourism sector of the UT continuing to witness a strong upward trajectory. According to an official, Ladakh recorded 3,30,332 tourist arrivals from January to July this year, already reaching 98.35 per cent of the total 3,35,872 tourists recorded during the entire calendar year in 2025.
The official said the surge was particularly noticeable in June and July, when more than 2.12 lakh tourists visited Ladakh, accounting for nearly 65 per cent of the total 3.30 lakh tourist arrivals recorded so far this year.
Ladakh received 1,05,046 tourists in July, compared to 67,273 in the same month in 2025, registering a growth of 56.15 per cent. The July arrivals comprised 95,416 domestic and 9,630 foreign tourists, he said.
"The fact that Ladakh has crossed the 1-lakh mark in tourist arrivals for two successive months and has already achieved more than 98 per cent of the entire 2025 footfall by the end of July is a very encouraging milestone. Modi's appeal to our citizens to explore the beauty and diversity of our own country has given a further impetus to domestic tourism," Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena said.
(With PTI inputs)
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