People woke up with fear in Dhaka( ढाका ) 

Dhaka: In Dhaka,( ढाका )  the capital of Bangladesh, people woke up from the tremors of the earth this morning, strong tremors were felt around 6 o’clock, its intensity was measured at 4.9 on the Richter scale. The epicenter of the earthquake was just a few kilometers away from Dhaka. The United States Geological Survey reported the earthquake’s magnitude as 4.3 on the Richter scale, and said that its epicenter was near Dohar Upazila in Dhaka Division, at a depth of 10 kilometers from the Earth’s surface. Soon after the earthquake, social media was flooded with Facebook and WhatsApp statuses. Netizens asked each other to confirm whether others had also felt the tremors.

A Facebook user wrote, ‘My whole building was shaking. It is about 10 storeys. It must have been a big earthquake.’ Others took to social media to share screenshots, which said the quake originated 14 km from Dhaka. The one earthquake that history books always bring up was about 100 years ago. This earthquake occurred on 18 July 1918, whose magnitude was 7.6 and its epicenter was in Srimangal, Maulvibazar. In the recent past, a moderate earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale hit Dhaka and other parts of the country on December 5, 2022. Experts say that Dhaka has gone 130 years without any major earthquake.

There are some major fault lines in Bangladesh, which include the Dauki Fault, the Madhupur Fault and the tectonic plate boundary. In an interview with the media outlet The Dhaka Tribune in February this year, Dr Mehdi Ahmed Ansari, a professor at Buett’s Department of Civil Engineering, specializing in geotechnical and earthquake engineering, said, ‘Most of the infrastructure construction in Dhaka city Projects do not comply with building codes with earthquake resistant techniques. As a result, if a major earthquake occurs, the entire city of Dhaka will be in danger.’ He estimated that if an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale were to occur in Dhaka, there would be massive destruction and an estimated 300,000 people could be killed.

Dr. Ansari told the Dhaka Tribune, “If something happens in Dhaka like the magnitude 7 earthquake that hit Turkey, not only will thousands of buildings collapse, but the city will turn into a heap of fire due to unplanned power transmission and gas lines . In the last two to three years, the frequency of earthquakes has increased in the country, and we have not had such a big earthquake in 100 years. It’s a topic of concern. This means that these small vibrations are a sign of energy creation. As a result, there is a fear of a major earthquake ahead. Let us tell you that on February 6 this year, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Turkey caused widespread devastation. It also had an impact in the Syrian areas bordering Turkey. Thousands of buildings were razed to the ground in this disaster, and more than 50 thousand people were killed.