Experts on earthquake at an awareness campaign on Friday said Dhaka was the second most vulnerable city to earthquake in the world and a moderate quake might cause severe devastation in the densely populated city.
They also emphasised building awareness about the measures which should be taken before, during and after an earthquake.
The programme was jointly organised by Dhakabashi and Bishwakalakendra in the Munier Choudhury Conference Room at the Dhaka University Teachers Students Centre.
Shahnaz Huq-Hossain, dean of the faculty of earth and environmental sciences at Dhaka University, said, ‘Madhupur fault is incidentally in the convergent area of Euroasian and Indian plate, which makes Bangladesh, Dhaka in particular, vulnerable to higher-magnitude earthquakes.’
‘The risk is due to unplanned urbanisation, poorly designed and constructed structures, extremely dense population and poor response to earthquake,’ Shahnaz said in the keynote paper.
‘We have no proper technology to forecast an earthquake,’ said Shukur Salek, president of Dhakabashi, ‘which requires us to put more emphasis on post-earthquake measures.’
Playgrounds and community centres at each ward of the capital should be prepared for giving shelters after earthquake, Salek proposed.
The state minister for law, justice and parliamentary affairs, Quamrul Islam said, ‘Rajuk and other governmental organisations should take necessary steps against illegal and risky constructions.’
He also said, ‘Educational institutions can play a big role in building awareness about earthquake and its consequences.’
Previous earthquakes in Dhaka in the last decade were in between 4.2 and 5.4 on the Richter scale and the epicentre of those earthquakes was in the India-Myanmar border, it was disclosed at the programme.
Dhaka University registrar Syed Rezaur Rahman, secretary general of Bangladesh Jatiya Juba Sangathan Federation Dulal Bishwas, representative of Swiss National Youth Council Ilona Meier, adviser of Dhakabashi Nagina Chowdhury also spoke in the programme.