Afroz Shah
Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Physical and Geological Sciences, Faculty Member
- My research and outreach work mainly works on this challenge: “After ~250 years of scientific research and insights i... moreMy research and outreach work mainly works on this challenge: “After ~250 years of scientific research and insights into the causes of earthquakes, challenges still remain today to fully comprehend the science of earthquakes, and how to use the existing knowledge to save lives and property.” Therefore, my motivation to work as an earthquake scientist primarily involves two lenses: improvement of earthquake geology, and to translate the scientific knowledge into action on ground. I am working in portions of South and Southeast Asia to map and improve the existing datasets on the earthquake-causing faults in these regions (e.g. India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Island of New Guinea etc.).While working on the existing structural and geological maps of these regions I have realized that there is a need to revamp most of these maps for our better understanding of the tectonic topography, geomorphology, structures, tectonics etc. Therefore, I use a variety of satellite derived data, previous works and fieldwork to improve the existing maps, and to identify the unknown structures (faults and folds etc). I am also actively involved in Earth science education through the use of documentary movies, newspapers articles, and public interactions.The knowledge, understanding, planning, management, and action on ground is highly needed to improve our relationship with the planet Earth, and this requires a solid geological background the wisdom of which has been available to us from decades, however, we have to improve it and make it better.edit
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Abstract The risk of earthquake is ever increasing in mountains along with rapid growth of population and urbanization. Over half a million people died in the last decade due to earthquakes. The devastations of Sumatra and Thai coasts in... more
Abstract The risk of earthquake is ever increasing in mountains along with rapid growth of population and urbanization. Over half a million people died in the last decade due to earthquakes. The devastations of Sumatra and Thai coasts in 2004, of Kashmir and New Orleans in 2005, of SW Java in 2006, of Sumatra again in 2007, W Sichuan and Myanmar in 2008, of Haiti in 2010, Japan, New Zealand and Turkey in 2011, brought enormous damage. The primary step in this regard could be to establish an earthquake risk model. The ...
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Research Interests: Archaeology, Geology, Paleontology, Quaternary, Pedogenesis, and 4 morePergamon, Loess, Paleosol, and Pannonian Basin
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Flood disasters are expected to increase because of the climate change-related sea level rise. While impacts on regional and local scales may vary, mapping that variation is critical for understanding the risks our preparedness to tackle... more
Flood disasters are expected to increase because of the climate change-related sea level rise. While impacts on regional and local scales may vary, mapping that variation is critical for understanding the risks our preparedness to tackle them. The historical and contemporary data show that ordinary hazards often turn into monsters because of poverty and unpreparedness.
Research Interests: Poverty and Flood Myth
A progression of FIAs (foliation intersection/inflection axes preserved within porphyroblasts) in the foothills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains reveals three periods of garnet and staurolite growth and one growth phases each of cordierite... more
A progression of FIAs (foliation intersection/inflection axes preserved within porphyroblasts) in the foothills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains reveals three periods of garnet and staurolite growth and one growth phases each of cordierite and andalusite. These minerals grew in an overall prograde path, where the growth of garnet was always followed by the formation of staurolite for each FIA. For the last 1 period of FIA development the growth of staurolite was also followed by the development of andalusite and cordierite. Inclusions of earlier minerals within the younger phases have supported the porphroblastic mineral sequence obtained through FIAs. Thermodynamic modelling in the MnNCKFMASH system reveals that this episodic growth occurred over a similar bulk compositional range and PT path for each FIA in the succession. Multiple phases of growth by same series of reactions in these rocks strongly suggests that PT and X are not the only factors controlling the commencement and cessation of metamorphic reactions. The FIAs preserved by these porphyroblasts reveal that each stage of growth occurred during deformation and that the local partitioning of deformation at the scale of a porphyroblast was the controlling factor on whether or not the reaction took place. In-situ dating of monazite grains preserved within porphyroblasts from each FIA set has revealed that the first period of tectonism occurred around 1758.8±9 Ma, recorded within the porphyroblasts of FIA set 1, where garnet nucleated at 540-550°C and 3.8-4.0 kbars. The intersection of Ca, Mn, and Fe isopleths in garnet cores for 3 samples, containing FIA set 1, set 2 (1758.8±9, 1720.5±6.1 Ma) and set 3 (1674±7.6 Ma), trending NE-SW, E-W and SE-NW respectively, indicate that these rocks never got above 4kbars throughout the Colorado Orogeny. A slightly clockwise P-T path occurred for this orogeny.
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Reply to comments by Ahmad et al. on: Shah, A. A., 2013. Earthquake geology of Kashmir Basin and its implications for future large earthquakes International Journal of Earth Sciences DOI:10.1007/s00531-013-0874-8 and on Shah, A. A., 2015. Kashmir Basin Fault and its tectonic significance in NW Hi...more
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Abstract This research disputes the geomorphic data presented in Dar et al. (2014), and demonstrates that their data strongly conflicts with their own field evidence, and also with the previous geological observations. The authors have... more
Abstract This research disputes the geomorphic data presented in Dar et al. (2014), and demonstrates that their data strongly conflicts with their own field evidence, and also with the previous geological observations. The authors have proposed a major ∼SW dipping frontal fault that bounds the Pir Panjal Range near Kashmir basin of NW Himalaya. However, field photographs show a very steep ∼86° dipping normal fault. This therefore, contradicts with all the morphometric indices, interpretations, and discussion presented because those are based on a major ∼SE dipping thrust fault that bounds Pir Panjal Range in Kashmir basin. The proposed fault is a major ∼SW dipping backthrust, which primarily conflicts with the previous geological observations in Kashmir basin because mostly ∼NE dipping major thrusts are mapped in this region. And presently only three major ∼NE dipping faults, the Main Frontal Thrust (MFT), the Raisi Fault (RF), and the Kashmir Basin Fault (KBF), are tectonically active. The new proposed major active thrust, as suggested by the triangular facets mapped by Dar et al. (2014), was mapped on the basis of geomorphic evidence as a ∼SW dipping thrust fault, and field evidence shows a normal fault, which utterly questions the nature, and significance of the new research work.
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The 18th World Lake Conference, entitled “Governance, Resilience, and Sustainability of Lakes for a Better Society” was held virtually from November 9th to 11th, 2022 at the University of Guanajuato, Mexico. This forum was designed with... more
The 18th World Lake Conference, entitled “Governance, Resilience, and Sustainability of Lakes for a Better Society” was held virtually from November 9th to 11th, 2022 at the University of Guanajuato, Mexico. This forum was designed with the primary objective of providing a space where scientists, professionals, students, managers, and practitioners could propose, share, and learn about studies, strategies, and actions which enhance the management of lakes around the world. Different activities were contemplated and scheduled in the organization of this forum, such as conferences, special sessions, technical sessions, and workshops where 194 distinguished investigators and participants shared the results of their research and the knowledge they have gained over the years.
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to investigate the formation, growth, and development of basins during the collisional orogenesis, and in the NW Himalaya several such basins are observed to have formed during the latest phase of the ongoing collision between India and... more
to investigate the formation, growth, and development of basins during the collisional orogenesis, and in the NW Himalaya several such basins are observed to have formed during the latest phase of the ongoing collision between India and Eurasia (Burbank and Johnson, 1982). Kashmir and the Leh basins are the two such basins that have been studied in the past (e.g., Burbank and Johnson, 1982; Sangode et al., 2011; Dar et al., 2014; Aggarwal et al., 2018; Ahamd et al., 2020, Kumar et al., 2020; Shah et al., 2021), and in the recent times several studies have mapped normal faults in these basins (references herein), which pose important questions on what really causes the formation of normal faults within a collision zone. Ahmad et al. (2021) reviewed the field evidence of normal faults in the Kashmir basin and suggested gravity tectonics as the leading cause of normal faulting, which therefore questions the previous studies that have related normal faults to the ongoing tectonic conver...
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A progression of FIAs (foliation intersection/inflection axes preserved within porphyroblasts) in the foothills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains reveals three periods of garnet and staurolite growth and one growth phases each of cordierite... more
A progression of FIAs (foliation intersection/inflection axes preserved within porphyroblasts) in the foothills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains reveals three periods of garnet and staurolite growth and one growth phases each of cordierite and andalusite. These minerals grew in an overall prograde path, where the growth of garnet was always followed by the formation of staurolite for each FIA. For the last 1 period of FIA development the growth of staurolite was also followed by the development of andalusite and cordierite. The intersection of Ca, Mn, and Fe isopleths in garnet cores for 3 samples, containing FIA set 1, set 2 (1758.8±9, 1720.5±6.1 Ma) and set 3 (1674±7.6 Ma), trending NE-SW, E-W and SE-NW respectively, indicate that these rocks never got above 4kbars throughout the Colorado Orogeny. A slightly clockwise P-T path occurred for this orogeny.
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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted the need to have virtual field libraries accessible to users, which is possible if the field data are collected, archived, and processed to retain the actual field... more
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted the need to have virtual field libraries accessible to users, which is possible if the field data are collected, archived, and processed to retain the actual field configurations. Therefore, we demonstrate the veracity of geological mapping with the help of Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) coupled with the traditional field site visits in Brunei Darussalam, SE Asia. We have selected two geological field sites that expose faulted Miocene sedimentary rocks. We visited these sites with geology undergraduates to teach them the field components of the courses on Field Mapping and Structural Geology at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam. A field assignment was given to students, which had to be submitted at the end of the fieldwork. The same exercise was repeated in the classroom with the UAV aided field data as virtual field exercises. The geological outcrop details were captured at kilometer and millimeter (mm) scales with both the static and dynamic mode of operations. The drone-based imagery was used to generate the 3D point clouds that used 67 oriented photographs to recreate the outcrop details. We discovered that both the traditional and drone based field data are highly useful to capture kilometer to mm scale details. Our results also revealed that students were very engaged during the virtual field exercises, and completed the field assignment with care, which was largely missing during the onsite field exercises. We think this is partly because of the relaxed state of the mind to grasp details while in a classroom environment where the hot sunny and humid weather of tropical Brunei was avoidable. The virtual field exercises have opened a new arena of field geology where the use of technology enhances the usability and accessibility of field based courses that are often disrupted because of various reasons. However, the traditional field visits should not be completely replaced by the virtual field.
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Landslides are downslope movements of rock and soil materials under the influence of gravity, and often these are triggered by various causes, and the factors that govern the landslide occurrence in Brunei Darussalam, Borneo, have not... more
Landslides are downslope movements of rock and soil materials under the influence of gravity, and often these are triggered by various causes, and the factors that govern the landslide occurrence in Brunei Darussalam, Borneo, have not been investigated in any detail, although landslide hazards are the second most damaging hazards in the country. The equatorial tropical monsoon conditions contribute to the cause of landslides in the sultanate, and our mapping of landslide sites in the Brunei-Muara region has revealed a number of key factors that initiate and influence the formation and nucleation of landslides. And these are mainly related to extent of urbanisation, amount and intensity of rainfall, loss of vegetation cover, slope and geological factors. These factors may or may not work together for a particular landslide event, but the occurrence of landslides has been linked to these factors. Gravitational active faults were also mapped at three landslide sites and related to creep. Google, and 30 m shuttle radar topography satellite images, followed by detailed fieldwork with the aid of unmanned aerial vehicle tool, were employed to map the topographic, structural, bedrock, and landslide details and to differentiate the types of landslides. The landslide and rainfall data were obtained from the National Disaster Management Centre and Geotechnical and Geological Section of the Public Works Department and used in combination with the bedrock and slope maps. Our work should be used by local administrative departments to plan any future anthropogenic activity in the region.
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Our recent mapping of the Dras fault zone in the NW Himalaya has answered one of the most anticipated searches in recent times where strike-slip faulting was expected from the geodetic studies. Therefore, the discovery of the fault is a... more
Our recent mapping of the Dras fault zone in the NW Himalaya has answered one of the most anticipated searches in recent times where strike-slip faulting was expected from the geodetic studies. Therefore, the discovery of the fault is a leap towards the understanding of the causes of active faulting in the region, and how the plate tectonic convergence between India and Eurasia is compensated in the interior portions of the Himalayan collision zone, and what does that imply about the overall convergence budget and the associated earthquake hazards. The present work is an extended version of our previous studies on the mapping of the Dras fault zone, and we show details that were either not available or briefly touched. We have used the 30 m shuttle radar topography to map the tectonic geomorphological features that includes the fault scarps, deflected drainage, triangular facets, ridge crests, faulted Quaternary landforms and so on. The results show that oblique strike-slip faulting...
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Abstract Kashmir basin is a piggyback basin that has developed at the last stage of the ongoing collision between India and Eurasia, and it is ∼4 Ma old and contains 1300 m thick blankets of Plio-Pleistocene to Holocene deposits. These... more
Abstract Kashmir basin is a piggyback basin that has developed at the last stage of the ongoing collision between India and Eurasia, and it is ∼4 Ma old and contains 1300 m thick blankets of Plio-Pleistocene to Holocene deposits. These unconsolidated sediments are locally known as Karewas, which are deformed and displaced by a number of normal faults. These young normal faults are previously linked to the tectonic collision, however, we question such consensus on the tectonic origin of the faults by demonstrating that the widely reported field evidence for active normal faulting in Kashmir is actually non-tectonic because the faults have formed by gravitational tectonics. This was achieved by reevaluation of all of the major studies that have reported the field data on active normal faulting in the region. We supplement our results with the structural, geological, geodetic and earthquakes centroid moment tensor data, which clearly consolidate our interpretations and demonstrate that active normal faults in Kashmir basin are not tectonically formed, and instead the lithological contrast between the Upper and Lower Karewas have created suitable conditions for structural failure. So, the faults are active, and would be expected to remain active as long as the vertical load favors the slip on the faults but these faults will not produce major earthquakes as are expected on the major Himalayan fault systems, and therefore the seismic hazard associated with such faults is minimum, which needs to be quantified and implemented in the future earthquake scenario maps.
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Reply to comments by Ahmad et al. on: Shah, A. A., 2013. Earthquake geology of Kashmir Basin and its implications for future large earthquakes International Journal of Earth Sciences DOI:10.1007/s00531-013-0874-8 and on Shah, A. A., 2015. Kashmir Basin Fault and its tectonic significance in NW Hi...more
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Tirur village located ~2.5 km inland along the western coast of Andaman Island experienced marginal subsidence during the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman (Mw 9.3) earthquake, causing inundation by tidal waters. Observations made in 2005, 2009, 2010... more
Tirur village located ~2.5 km inland along the western coast of Andaman Island experienced marginal subsidence during the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman (Mw 9.3) earthquake, causing inundation by tidal waters. Observations made in 2005, 2009, 2010 and 2011 revealed reduction in inundation limits of the tidal-marsh. Geomorphic and GPS observations suggest that the area experienced gradual but faster uplift during post 2004 till 2009, followed by gradual uplift with slower pace, indicating process of post-seismic relaxation. Shallow stratigraphic records exhibit four earthquakes including the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake. Unit a massive clayey-silt suggests a deeper environment before 3500 yr BP. Overlying thick peat (Unit b) represents tidal-marsh or wetland, suggesting emergence at or above mean sea-level during Event-I, this uplift was during 3022-3500 yr BP (BCE 1897-1369). Unit c medium-coarse sand with prominent bi-directional structures, and sharp contact with underlying Unit b, indic...
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Landslides are downslope movements of rock and soil materials under the influence of gravity, and often these are triggered by various causes, and the factors that govern the landslide occurrence in Brunei Darussalam, Borneo, have not... more
Landslides are downslope movements of rock and soil materials under the influence of gravity, and often these are triggered by various causes, and the factors that govern the landslide occurrence in Brunei Darussalam, Borneo, have not been investigated in any detail, although landslide hazards are the second most damaging hazards in the country. The equatorial tropical monsoon conditions contribute to the cause of landslides in the sultanate, and our mapping of landslide sites in the Brunei-Muara region has revealed a number of key factors that initiate and influence the formation and nucleation of landslides. And these are mainly related to extent of urbanisation, amount and intensity of rainfall, loss of vegetation cover, slope and geological factors. These factors may or may not work together for a particular landslide event, but the occurrence of landslides has been linked to these factors. Gravitational active faults were also mapped at three landslide sites and related to creep. Google, and 30 m shuttle radar topography satellite images, followed by detailed fieldwork with the aid of unmanned aerial vehicle tool, were employed to map the topographic, structural, bedrock, and landslide details and to differentiate the types of landslides. The landslide and rainfall data were obtained from the National Disaster Management Centre and Geotechnical and Geological Section of the Public Works Department and used in combination with the bedrock and slope maps. Our work should be used by local administrative departments to plan any future anthropogenic activity in the region.
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The western Himalayan syntaxis represents the region where the major Himalayan structures abruptly curve and the cause of the curvature and the tectonic geomorphology of the region has not been fully explored. The lack of detailed... more
The western Himalayan syntaxis represents the region where the major Himalayan structures abruptly curve and the cause of the curvature and the tectonic geomorphology of the region has not been fully explored. The lack of detailed structural maps with extensive field-based data is missing, which is mainly because of the political problems related to border sharing between Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan. However, and fortunately, the usage of satellite-derived images has overcome such constraints by providing a robust platform to remotely map such regions. Therefore, the present study was aimed to supplement our previous works in the region by exploring the western portions of the Hazara-Kashmir-Syntaxis. We have used Google Terrain imagery to map the evidence for active faulting that involves mapping of triangular facets, displaced and/or faulted topographic ridges, river terraces, alluvial fans and so on. The cross-cutting relationships are used to date the faulting events where ...
Two major traces of active thrust faults were identified in the Kashmir Basin (KB) using satellite images and by mapping active geomorphic features. The ~N130°E strike of the mapped thrust faults is consistent with the regional ~NE–SW... more
Two major traces of active thrust faults were identified in the Kashmir Basin (KB) using satellite images and by mapping active geomorphic features. The ~N130°E strike of the mapped thrust faults is consistent with the regional ~NE–SW convergence along the Indian–Eurasian collision zone. The ~NE dipping thrust faults have uplifted the young alluvial fan surfaces at the SW side of the KB. This created a major tectono-geomorphic boundary along the entire strike length of the KB that is characterised by (1) a low relief with sediment-filled sluggish streams to the SE and (2) an uplifted region, with actively flowing streams to the SW. The overall tectono-geomorphic expression suggests that recent activity along these faults has tilted the entire Kashmir valley towards NE. Further, the Mw 7.6 earthquake, which struck Northern Pakistan and Kashmir on 8 October 2005, also suggests a similar strike and NE dipping fault plane, which could indicate that the KB fault is continuous over a distance of ~210 km and connects on the west with the Balakot Bagh fault. However, the geomorphic and the structural evidences of such a structure are not very apparent on the north-west, which thus suggest that it is not a contiguous structure with the Balakot Bagh fault. Therefore, it is more likely that the KB fault is an independent thrust, a possible ramp on the Main Himalayan Thrust, which has uplifting the SW portion of the KB and drowning everything to the NE (e.g. Madden et al. 2011). Furthermore, it seems very likely that the KB fault could be a right stepping segment of the Balakot Bagh fault, similar to Riasi Thrust, as proposed by Thakur et al. (2010). The earthquake magnitude is measured by estimating the fault rupture parameters (e.g. Wells and Coppersmith in Bull Seismol Soc Am 84:974–1002, 1994). Therefore, the total strike length of the mapped KB fault is ~120 km and by assuming a dip of 29° (Avouac et al. in Earth Planet Sci Lett 249:514–528, 2006) and a down-dip limit of 20 km, a Mw of 7.6 is possible on this fault.
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Abstract This research disputes the geomorphic data presented in Dar et al. (2014), and demonstrates that their data strongly conflicts with their own field evidence, and also with the previous geological observations. The authors have... more
Abstract This research disputes the geomorphic data presented in Dar et al. (2014), and demonstrates that their data strongly conflicts with their own field evidence, and also with the previous geological observations. The authors have proposed a major ∼SW dipping frontal fault that bounds the Pir Panjal Range near Kashmir basin of NW Himalaya. However, field photographs show a very steep ∼86° dipping normal fault. This therefore, contradicts with all the morphometric indices, interpretations, and discussion presented because those are based on a major ∼SE dipping thrust fault that bounds Pir Panjal Range in Kashmir basin. The proposed fault is a major ∼SW dipping backthrust, which primarily conflicts with the previous geological observations in Kashmir basin because mostly ∼NE dipping major thrusts are mapped in this region. And presently only three major ∼NE dipping faults, the Main Frontal Thrust (MFT), the Raisi Fault (RF), and the Kashmir Basin Fault (KBF), are tectonically active. The new proposed major active thrust, as suggested by the triangular facets mapped by Dar et al. (2014), was mapped on the basis of geomorphic evidence as a ∼SW dipping thrust fault, and field evidence shows a normal fault, which utterly questions the nature, and significance of the new research work.
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Out-of-sequence thrust faulting in the Himalaya poses a great challenge to our understanding of the slip distribution on faults, in particular those that are active. The Kashmir Basin in the NW Himalaya is a classic example of... more
Out-of-sequence thrust faulting in the Himalaya poses a great challenge to our understanding of the slip distribution on faults, in particular those that are active. The Kashmir Basin in the NW Himalaya is a classic example of out-of-sequence faulting where the geomorphic analysis of tectonic landforms was possible because of a variety of readily available satellite data, including Shuttle Radar Topography, Google Maps, Global Earth, and Global Multi-Resolution Topography. This was augmented with geologic, seismologic, geodetic, and historical earthquake and flood data. The results show the NW extension of the previously mapped NE-dipping Kashmir Basin fault, where newly mapped discontinuous fault traces are freshly broken and back-tilted, and they preserve warped fluvial surfaces in the Quaternary to Holocene succession. The morphology of the basin suggests that it is rising along an active NE-dipping thrust fault. Importantly, two traces of this fault system cut through the course of the Jhelum River, the only river that drains the Kashmir Basin, and movement on the fault has modified its path. Recent movement on the fault potentially caused damming of this river that resulted in flooding of the Kashmir valley during major earthquakes around A.D. 1505 and/or 1886. Such movement likely caused historical drainage reversals, impoundments, and SE tilting, which were previously attributed to some unknown structures under the Pir Panjal Ranges.
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Out-of-sequence thrust faulting in the Himalaya poses a great challenge to our understanding of the slip distribution on faults, in particular those that are active. The Kashmir Basin in the NW Himalaya is a classic example of... more
Out-of-sequence thrust faulting in the Himalaya poses a great challenge to our understanding of the slip distribution on faults, in particular those that are active. The Kashmir Basin in the NW Himalaya is a classic example of out-of-sequence faulting where the geomorphic analysis of tectonic landforms was possible because of a variety of readily available satellite data, including Shuttle Radar Topography, Google Maps, Global Earth, and Global Multi-Resolution Topography. This was augmented with geologic, seismologic, geodetic, and historical earthquake and flood data. The results show the NW extension of the previously mapped NE-dipping Kashmir Basin fault, where newly mapped discontinuous fault traces are freshly broken and back-tilted, and they preserve warped fluvial surfaces in the Quaternary to Holocene succession. The morphology of the basin suggests that it is rising along an active NE-dipping thrust fault. Importantly, two traces of this fault system cut through the course of the Jhelum River, the only river that drains the Kashmir Basin, and movement on the fault has modified its path. Recent movement on the fault potentially caused damming of this river that resulted in flooding of the Kashmir valley during major earthquakes around A.D. 1505 and/or 1886. Such movement likely caused historical drainage reversals, impoundments, and SE tilting, which were previously attributed to some unknown structures under the Pir Panjal Ranges.