Overview
- Ceremonies were held across Azad Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with sirens at 8:52 a.m. in Muzaffarabad and prayers at mass graves in Balakot and during a memorial walk in Mirpur.
- Many survivors remain displaced as the promised New Balakot City stands largely uninhabited after legal disputes, funding delays, and corruption allegations.
- Resettlement projects in Langarpura and Thotha are still largely unfinished, leaving families to piece together housing and services on their own.
- Experts warn that weak enforcement of building codes and poor urban planning continue to expose the region to severe risk from future earthquakes.
- The 7.6-magnitude quake near Muzaffarabad killed tens of thousands, with reported tolls ranging from roughly 46,000 to more than 87,000, and it destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings and left millions homeless.