Noted geoscientist and former head of Geography Department at Kashmir University, M I Bhat, said that the first GPS station in Central Kashmir was set up in November 2007. This was followed by two more stations – one in Rajouri in November 2008 and another in Uri in North Kashmir a few weeks ago.

However, to keep a watch on more areas of the state to study relative movement of crust, two more GPS stations are being set up – one in South Kashmir and another across the Pir Panjal in Jammu, he said, adding that the crust move at different rates in different regions leading to different crustal deformations and different stress levels.

After collecting data from Jammu, we can have some idea about the extent of the relative movement in the state, he added. The study will help them to know the overall picture about the movement of the crust along the various fault lines in the Himalayan state and help them in getting an idea about the accumulating seismic stress and probability of the earthquakes in the region.

About the data collected from already set up GPS stations, Bhat said that last one year, the crust in central Kashmir has moved by many millimetres. This means the crust is deforming and putting stress along the fault lines. This can be the major cause for the tremors that rock the region, he added. Asked what its effect can be, he said that when this adds up over the years can trigger bigger earthquakes.

He pointed out that four GPS equipments will also be used in campaign mode, which means that they will be set up at particular sites for a particular time and then after some months, they will be again set at the same sites, to know the extent of the relative crustal movement during that time period.