1. Home
  2. Update
Author(s): Samaan Lateef

Kashmir: Can traditional housing mitigate quake damage?

Source(s): Deutsche Welle
Upload your content

Over the past 10 weeks, India-administered Kashmir has experienced 17 earthquakes. Five of them registered a magnitude of 4.0 or higher, while 12 ranged between 4.0 and 2.0 on the Richter scale.  

[...]

Experts emphasize the importance of prioritizing resilient infrastructure and construction practices to withstand the visible indicators of stress build-up caused by shifting tectonic plates. 

[...]

Specialists recommend microseismic zoning andrisk assessments in Kashmir to minimize the loss of human lives in the event of a high-magnitude quake. 

[...]

"Most traditional architecture was resilient to earthquakes. Kashmir has three variants of timber-laced architecture. The presence of flexible timber as a tying element to the rigid masonry is what made these constructions withstand forces of an earthquake," conservation architect Saima Iqbal, told DW. 

[...]

Read the original story here

Editors' recommendations

Explore further

Hazards Earthquake
Themes Critical infrastructure Traditional and Indigenous knowledges
Country and region India

Please note: Content is displayed as last posted by a PreventionWeb community member or editor. The views expressed therein are not necessarily those of UNDRR, PreventionWeb, or its sponsors. See our terms of use

Is this page useful?

Yes No
Report an issue on this page

Thank you. If you have 2 minutes, we would benefit from additional feedback (link opens in a new window).