Srinagar- Jammu and Kashmir has been entirely placed in the newly created highest-risk Zone VI under India's updated seismic zonation map, marking one of the most significant changes in the country's earthquake hazard assessment in decades.

The map, released as part of the 2025 Earthquake Design Code by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), a few days back, classifies the entire Himalayan arc, including all districts of J&K and Ladakh, in the top danger category.

The new zonation is based on internationally accepted probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA) methods, which use detailed information on active faults, maximum rupture potential, ground-shaking behaviour and underlying geology. These scientific inputs replace older approaches that relied heavily on historical earthquake data, soil classifications and past damage records.

The BIS says the updated framework offers a clearer picture of the peak ground accelerations that future earthquakes may generate, ensuring that safety standards reflect the current understanding of seismic behaviour rather than outdated assumptions.

Experts say the revision corrects long-standing inconsistencies in earlier maps, which divided the Himalayan belt between Zones IV and V despite uniform tectonic risks.

Dr. Vineet Gahalaut, director of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, said that the new classification finally recognises the threat posed by long-unruptured, stress-accumulating fault segments, particularly in the central Himalaya. He said the previous zonation had underestimated the potential of these locked segments, many of which have not produced major surface-rupturing events in nearly two centuries.

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