GILGIT: A powerful tremor struck Yazben village in Qurumbar Valley, Upper Ishkoman, late Thursday afternoon, triggering landslides and sending thick clouds of dust billowing across the valley. The quake caused sections of nearby mountains to collapse, burying fields, trees, and homes under gray dust and debris.
Images shared on social media by a local resident show uprooted trees, damaged structures, and dense dust clouds reducing visibility across the area.
Residents described a sudden jolt followed by deep rumbling from the mountains. “Everything shook violently, and then we saw the clouds of dust,” one villager said. “The air was full of dust and it was hard to breathe or see anything.”
No official reports of casualties have been released so far, but local sources say the damage is significant, and several families have been forced to leave their homes as a precaution. Authorities have been urged to assess the situation and provide immediate assistance to affected residents.
Similar tremors have also been reported in neighboring regions, including Chipursan Valley in Hunza and Yarkhoon Valley in Upper Chitral, raising concerns about broader seismic activity across the northern highlands.
In Chipursan Valley, Gojal, many families have abandoned their homes after deep cracks appeared in their houses following several days of tremors. Local residents say the repeated shaking has left them anxious and uncertain about their safety.
A video from Yarkhoon Valley, circulating widely on social media, shows clouds of dust rising from the mountains as locals report jolts accompanied by explosion-like sounds.
Officials from the Geological Survey of Pakistan recently visited Chipursan Valley to study the situation, but no findings have yet been made public, leaving residents in a state of fear and uncertainty.
The northern mountains of Pakistan lie in a seismically active zone where minor tremors are common, but locals say the recent quakes have been unusually strong and persistent.
