Main image: Faheem Ijaz Ch., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Getting There
Zalzal Lake (Earthquake Lake) is surrounded with high green mountains and it is located near Chikkar in Muzaffarabad Azad Kashmir.
What to Expect
The new lake was named as “Zilzaal Lake” and now it has gained great deal of popularity among tourists. it is situated with an altitude of 1570 meters.
History
Due to the devastating earthquake of October 8th 2005, like other areas of AJK, the areas in Jhelum Valley also witnessed massive devastation. Four villages namely “Curli”, “Bhat Shir”, “Lodhabad” and “Padder” located in between Chikkar and Bani Hafiz were reported to be completely destroyed when the mountains collided very badly and got converted into heaps of rubble burying about 575 people underneath.
The collapsed mountain peaks and the rubble of the four villages blocked the natural flow of the water which resulted in the creation of a natural Lake stretched over an area of about 3 Kms. This newly born lake was named as “Zilzaal Lake” and now it has gained great deal of popularity among tourists. It is situated with an altitude of 1570 meters.
Facilities Available
Tourists can be enjoying on boating on this lake. Some private hotels are available with local standard.
