NEWS report in a national daily on Wednesday said Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka sits on top of a geological fault buried under thick sediments, which could trigger a massive earthquake causing massive physical destruction and human casualties of unprecedented dimension. Quoting findings of a research work titled ‘Locked and loading mega thrust linked to active subduction beneath the Indo-Burman Ranges’ published Monday the disclosure seems to have emerged as an early warning for Bangladesh to face the eventuality if and when such earthquake may hit the country.
The disclosure said the magnitude of such earthquake may vary from 8.2 to 9 in Richter Scale to cause enormous damage. At least 140 million people living in the vulnerable region comprising Bangladesh, eastern India and parts of Myanmar. This forewarning has caught attention of experts and people as a whole. In fact our region has not witnessed massive earthquake since 1900. More than 100 moderate to large earthquakes occurred in Bangladesh, out of which over 65 occurred after 1960. This brings to light an increased frequency of earthquakes in the last 40 to 50 years. But such type of caution is first in terms of intensity and its damage and it calls for huge preparation to face the natural calamities. Although researchers didn’t mention the timeframe of quake, they confidently stated that it would take place any time. We must take it seriously and find way to save man and materials from the shock of the soil.
Using ground and satellite GPS monitors to measure surface activity between 2003 and 2013, the international team of researchers has shown Bangladesh is actually sitting on a huge subduction zone. It also said that the northeastern corner of the Indian subcontinent is actively colliding with Asia, potentially posing a major earthquake risk to the region. Although earthquake prediction is not possible, Indian Government Disaster Management experts warned of a bigger catastrophe earthquake with a magnitude of 8.2 or greater on the Richter Scale may hit the already ruptured Himalayan region. The Times of India has made the study report concrete that led the scientists to recognize that Bangladesh is positioned at the juncture of several active tectonic plate boundaries.
It is frustrating that our urban planning is poor, there is not enough open space to seek shelter in the city and hospitals are ill-equipped. All these factors combined will heighten the risk of fatalities. In this situation, mega quake will bring mega destruction for the country. We must say time is running out to draw earthquake vulnerability map of the country and how to conduct rescue operation in case of a massive hit. The devastation in Nepal in 2014 suggests how volatile the shocks and after shocks may be to destroy man and animal and roads and infrastructure. We must have our preparedness at all level.
