Preparedness against earthquake

A 4.3 magnitude earthquake with an epicentre very close to Dhaka jolted the capital of Bangladesh on Friday morning. A total of 14 such quakes have been reported within the 300 kilometre radius of Dhaka in the past one month. All these, as experts say, indicate the possibility of a major earthquake in the country. However, are we prepared enough to face such a natural disaster? It seems whenever there is an incident of earthquake, we become aware of it for some days. And then, as usual, we forget it entirely. We really need to take all-out preparedness before anything bad happens to us.

No building in Dhaka should be allowed to construct without following the earthquake-resistant building code. The buildings that are risky should be identified and marked by the authorities concerned. Earlier, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) suggested marking riskier buildings'red' and less risky ones 'green'. However, this suggestion has not yet been implemented.

Lessons learnt from earthquakes in other countries should be taken into account and we should make arrangements to mitigate the risks and losses in case any earthquake-like disaster strikes. Regular drilling to make people trained on what to do during an earthquake should also be organised on a regular basis. Arranging discussion sessions at community levels such as at mosques, temples, parks, and other places of a neighbourhood can also be helpful.

MA Islam,

Dhanmondi, Dhaka