Bangladesh in Earthquake Zone A moderate earthquake rocks countrys north-east and central districts

Sunday July 27 2008 23:30:06 PM BDT

A moderate earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale rocked country's north-east and central districts including the capital Dhaka in the early hours of Sunday. According to the Met Office(The Bangladesh Today) the moderate earthquake that jolted different districts of the Dhaka and Sylhet Division measured 5.6 on the Richter scale. The earthquake jolted Dhaka, Sylhet, Narsignidi, Tangail, Myemrnsigh districts at about 12.52 am. The earthquake lasted for 10 seconds. The epicentre of the tremor, felt at about 12:52 am was about 234 kms north-east from BMD seismic centre at Agargaon in Dhaka, said an earth quack occurrence message issued by Met office yesterday. Talking to The Bangladesh Today expert of Met office said a devastating catastrophe may take place in Dhaka as it has been identified as earthquake prone city due to geographical characteristic and indiscriminate and unplanned construction of high-rise and multi-storied buildings. On the other hand, unplanned digging of the earth for multi-storied building is also creating a vacuum intensifying the earthquake possibility, the expert said adding that immediate initiatives must be taken to identify and retrofit vulnerable buildings in Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet and other cities. "If the earthquake shakes the capital and other metropolitan cities severely, it will cause huge damage to lives and properties as these buildings will not be able to withstand the earthquake jolts," he added. The Meteorologist further said due to lack of proper enforcement, a large number of buildings which continue to be designed and constructed, don't have sufficient provision for seismic resistance. "If such catastrophe strikes the capital, we would have nothing do as there are no equipment for rescue operations", he added. "But the modern world is yet to invent technology which can forecast earthquakes in advance. So there is no way of knowing an upcoming earthquake and alert people. We will have to buildup awareness among city dwellers about the destructive capacity of earthquakes and how to take protection against them," replying to queries the experts said. If a big earthquake occurs once, subsequently several earthquakes of smaller magnitude follow it surrounding the same epi-centre. So, it is necessary to measure the magnitude of an earthquake. Although there is a seismic survey station in Chittagong, the government

is constructing three new seismic survey stations with sophisticated equipments like seismometers and seismographs in Dhaka, Sylhet and Rangpur in a bid to inform people of the extent and magnitude of earthquakes.

The Bangladesh Today http://www.bangladesh-web.com/view.php?hidRecord=212436