The mild earthquake that jolted Bangladesh capital Dhaka on Friday morning left disaster experts worried as they found it a sign of a massive earthquake in the making.
They said that small earthquakes indicate the changing phenomenon of the subsurface condition for a massive disaster.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department said that the epicentre of the 4.3-magnitude earthquake was 14 kilometres southeast of Dhaka in Dohar.
Disaster experts said that the place was new as an earthquake epicentre as there were no identified tectonic plants or faults at the epicentre.
Mahbuba Nasreen, a professor at Dhaka University’s Institute of Disaster Management and Vulnerability Studies, noted that although earthquakes were not unusual in the country, the latest incident raised concerns because its epicentre was very close to the capital, while the epicentres of the majority of previous earthquakes were far away.
Although the shock was modest in nature, according to her, the city was jolted more because of the fragility of the structures.
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology professor Mehedi Ahmed Ansary echoed Nasreen.
The scary thing is that little jolts can be signs of bigger ones. We are undoubtedly on the verge of a bigger one, he said, adding that it was impossible to predict when it would occur.
Department of Disaster Management director general Md Mijanur Rahman also opined that the epicentre in Dhaka was a worrying fact.
‘Bangladesh is one of the earthquake-prone countries. We are aware of it, but the epicentre is near, which increases tension,’ he said.
The BMD recorded 47 earthquakes between January 2018 and September 2021. Of them, 16 originated inside Bangladesh, with the rest either in India, Myanmar, or the Bay of Bengal. The closest earth quake was recorded in Gazipur on February 26, 2019, which was 37 km from Dhaka.
Dhaka University’s disaster science and climate resilience professor, Md Zillur Rahman, said that the earthquake might have happened because small faults developed up to 300 km from the plate boundary.
Three tectonic plates - Indian-Eurasia-Burma—meet at the Bangladesh boundary. Of them, the Indian plate is moving to the north-east, and the Eurasian plate is moving to the north above the Indian plate. Thus, there are five major fault zones in and around Bangladesh, mostly Eastern parts of the country, he said.
Mahbuba Nasreen, however, asked people not to be panicked over the issue as none could stop earthquakes from happening but urged all to be aware and take preparations to minimise damage.
She said that earthquake preparedness in Dhaka was very unsatisfactory.
She urged the relevant authorities to ensure structural resiliency at eight richter scale earthquakes and to make people aware of the need to fight against earthquakes like floods, and cyclones.
‘We have a huge lacking in earthquake response,’ she said.
Disaster Management DG Mijanur Rahman said that earthquake preparedness was a multisectoral issue where every department concerned must play its role.
He added that besides the regular response teams, the government trained 50,000 community volunteers for rescue response.
‘No initiative will function well until we can ensure earthquake-resilient buildings in the city and manage gas pipelines,’ he said.
The gas-supplying authorities were asked to install an auto-shutdown system, but there was no progress on the ground.
Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha, the dedicated capital development control authority, could hardly ensure the construction of buildings by maintaining a proper building code, he said.
Rajuk’s Urban Resilience Project director, Abdul Latif Helaly, said that the agency was unable to determine the scale of a building’s sustainability.
He said that they conducted a study on 229 buildings recently and found that 42 of them needed to be demolished.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department reported the jolt was felt at 5:57am. There has been no report of damage so far.