Contingency plans for earthquake preparedness have not been implemented yet, despite predictions that a major earthquake can hit the country anytime. Citing a recent series of earthquakes in Bangladesh, experts have warned that a major earthquake in crowded cities like Dhaka can cause terrible human tragedy. Although two years back the government had chalked out plans for national preparedness, none of those has been fully implemented. The government’s plan to build a volunteer corps with 62,000 cadres and equip the fire service and civil defence department with search and rescue tools has also not materialised.
The earthquake contingency plan includes rescue training activities and campaigns among decision-makers, planners, teachers and schoolchildren in earthquake-prone zones, such as Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet, to reduce risks in case a major earthquake hit the country. However, full implementation of the plan remains to be done.
The food and disaster management minister, Dr Abdur Razzak, said 12,000 people have already been trained to be volunteers, while the rest would be trained in future. He described the response plan as an ongoing process, saying that the government is going ahead with the plan.
The minister, however, said that everybody should abide by the national building code to avoid greater casualties, and that creating awareness among people is most crucial.
Experts told The Independent that the country is becoming more vulnerable to earthquakes because of non-observance of building code and unplanned urban growth.
When asked about finalisation of the National Plan for Disaster Management 2008-2015, Razzak said the government is still scrutinising the draft of the plan.
Around 2,50,000 buildings in three major cities of Bangladesh — Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet — are extremely vulnerable to earthquakes, according to a survey conducted by the Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP). The study identified 1,42,000 buildings in south-eastern Chittagong as vulnerable to major earthquakes. Almost 24,000 buildings out of 52,000 in north-eastern Sylhet and 78,000 out of 3,26,000 buildings in Dhaka were pinpointed as being vulnerable.
“In absence of proper enforcement, many of the new buildings that are being designed and constructed in different parts of more earthquake-prone zones do not have adequate provisions for seismic resistance. To avoid catastrophes in case of future earthquakes, it is imperative that steps be taken to enforce provisions of the Bangladesh National Building Code,” said Prof. Zamilur Reza Chowdhury, president of the Bangladesh Earthquake Society.
“Measures for overall disaster mitigation must include recognition of earthquakes as major natural hazards. Formal adoption and measure to enforce the Bangladesh National Building Code will reduce damage done by earthquakes. We should identify the vulnerable buildings and retrofit them,” he added.
He pointed out that though some measures have been taken for earthquake preparedness, no significant move is in sight to face disasters like tsunami along the coastal belt where more than 10 million people live.
“The rate of population growth along the coastal belt will be around 3 per cent per year (higher than the national average, which is around 1.7 per cent per year). In Bangladesh, all efforts to mitigate the impact of earthquake are focused on minimisation of structural damage to buildings and infrastructure, and in raising public awareness,” he explained.
Dr Munaj Ahmed Noor, general secretary of the Bangladesh Earthquake Society, said: “Risk of earthquakes depends on both vulnerability and capacity. Asset or building stocks of Dhaka is much vulnerable compared to other countries. The term ‘capacity’ is closely interlinked with physical planning, social capacity, economic capacity and management capacity in an integrated wary. In this case, our capacity is not as much as other countries, so it can be stated that Dhaka city is much vulnerable considering the above facts,” he added.
Kevin Krajic, an expert at the Earth Institute of Columbia University, in his article “Lurking Under Bangladesh: The Next Great Earthquake?” comments that scientists expect Bangladesh to bear the brunt of a major earthquake.
“With more than 160 million people, Bangladesh is the most crowded place on earth, and one of the poorest. And it is growing fast. It sits on the world’s largest river delta, close to sea level, which exposes it to tsunamis and the possibility of rivers jumping their banks in the event of an earthquake. And it is furiously putting up bridges and multistory buildings that increase its vulnerability. Scientists have come to recognise that it sits at the juncture of several active tectonic plate boundaries – including the tail end of the one that caused the 2004 Sumatra tsunami that killed over 200,000 people,” the article stated
Syed Humayun Akhter, a seismologist at the Dhaka University Earth Observatory, warns that an earthquake anywhere near the crowded capital can make other modern tragedies look insignificant.
Michael Steckler, research professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Columbia University, explained that the plate boundary lying along the Sumatra-Andaman Islands, which was involved in the 2004 earthquake and tsunami, continues to the north into Bangladesh.
The Chittagong Hill Tracts with their tea plantations and India’s Tripura in the Eastern Himalayas are part of a zone that is “squeezed and folded over the main fault and has a potential for a large earthquake”.
When an earthquake measures 7-8 on the Richter Scale, it is called a “major earthquake”. If it crosses the magnitude of 8, it is called a “great earthquake”.
Date Name of Earthquake Magnitude (Richter) Epicentre’s Distance from Dhaka (km)
10 January, 1869 Cachar Earthquake 7.5250, 14 July, 1885 Bengal Earthquake 7.0170, 12 June, 1897 Great Indian Earthquake 8.7230, 8 July, 1918 Srimongal Earthquake 7.6150, 2 July, 1930 Dhubri Earthquake 7.1250, 15 January, 1934 Bihar-Nepal Earthquake 8.3510 and 15 August, 1950 Assam Earthquake 8.5780.
-With The Independent input
