Dhaka is highly vulnerable to earthquake under Madhupur fault: Expert
Saturday, 23 January 2010
As Dhaka is highly vulnerable to tremor under Madhupur Fault, adequate preparations are needed to minimise number of sufferers and the loss of property in any possible devastating earthquake.
ASM Maksud Kamal, National Adviser on Tsunami, Cyclone and Earthquake Risk of the Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP), told the news agency that Dhaka was highly vulnerable to earthquake under Madhupur Fault, as the phenomenal urbanisation, density of population and high-rise structures were growing fast, reports UNB.
"We cannot even imagine how much causalities and economic losses will there be in the city in case of a powerful tremor originating from Madhupur Fault," he added.
According to a government study, some 131,029 people would die instantly while another 32,948 would be injured and needed to be hospitalised if a 7.5 magnitude earthquake from Madhupur Fault jolts the city. In case of an eight-magnitude earthquake from plate boundary Fault-2, the study says, there would be about 69,874 instant deaths while 81,916 others would need to be admitted to hospital. In this case, the casualties would be less despite stronger tremor because of distance of its epicentre.
The incidence of earthquake has become too common across the world with the recent one hitting Haiti, leaving some 200,000 people dead. In 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami killed at least 230,000 people across a dozen of countries.
CDMP under Food and Disaster Management Ministry conducted the study with the help of Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC). The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UK Department for International Development (DFID) and European Commission provided financial support for the research project conducted from February 2008 to August 2009. The study reveals that at least 10 major hospitals in the capital would be destroyed completely and another 241 hospitals and clinics partially in case of a 7.5 magnitude quake, mounting pressure on the city's other hospitals and clinics to treat the possible large number of injured people. It shows that only 24,242 hospital beds would be available on the day the quake would jolt for the use of the already-admitted patients and earthquake-injured people after the 7.5 jolt, which is only 41 per cent of the demand.
Citing four low to moderate tremors, the study apprehended that moderate to strong earthquakes may hit three major cities-Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet-as those were situated in three separate risky earthquake zones. "Millions of people will die if a strong earthquake jolts the regions", Maksud Kamal, also a professor of geological sciences of Dhaka University, said most of the healthcare centres in the capital had been set up for just making money, not for providing healthcare services, as no contingency plan taken for recovery from earthquakes. "The highly vulnerable healthcare centres were constructed without any plan and maintaining the Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC)," he said.
ASM Maksud Kamal, National Adviser on Tsunami, Cyclone and Earthquake Risk of the Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP), told the news agency that Dhaka was highly vulnerable to earthquake under Madhupur Fault, as the phenomenal urbanisation, density of population and high-rise structures were growing fast, reports UNB.
"We cannot even imagine how much causalities and economic losses will there be in the city in case of a powerful tremor originating from Madhupur Fault," he added.
According to a government study, some 131,029 people would die instantly while another 32,948 would be injured and needed to be hospitalised if a 7.5 magnitude earthquake from Madhupur Fault jolts the city. In case of an eight-magnitude earthquake from plate boundary Fault-2, the study says, there would be about 69,874 instant deaths while 81,916 others would need to be admitted to hospital. In this case, the casualties would be less despite stronger tremor because of distance of its epicentre.
The incidence of earthquake has become too common across the world with the recent one hitting Haiti, leaving some 200,000 people dead. In 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami killed at least 230,000 people across a dozen of countries.
CDMP under Food and Disaster Management Ministry conducted the study with the help of Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC). The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UK Department for International Development (DFID) and European Commission provided financial support for the research project conducted from February 2008 to August 2009. The study reveals that at least 10 major hospitals in the capital would be destroyed completely and another 241 hospitals and clinics partially in case of a 7.5 magnitude quake, mounting pressure on the city's other hospitals and clinics to treat the possible large number of injured people. It shows that only 24,242 hospital beds would be available on the day the quake would jolt for the use of the already-admitted patients and earthquake-injured people after the 7.5 jolt, which is only 41 per cent of the demand.
Citing four low to moderate tremors, the study apprehended that moderate to strong earthquakes may hit three major cities-Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet-as those were situated in three separate risky earthquake zones. "Millions of people will die if a strong earthquake jolts the regions", Maksud Kamal, also a professor of geological sciences of Dhaka University, said most of the healthcare centres in the capital had been set up for just making money, not for providing healthcare services, as no contingency plan taken for recovery from earthquakes. "The highly vulnerable healthcare centres were constructed without any plan and maintaining the Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC)," he said.