Rapid urbanisation rises quake risk in Dhaka: US envoy

Very rapid urbanisation of capital Dhaka has increased the vulnerability to seismic events like earth quake and other urban catastrophes as urban planning and service delivery has simply not been able to keep pace with growth,” United States Ambassador Marcia Bernicat said yesterday. “This is why the strengthening earthquake resilience activity in Bangladesh is so important,” she said while handing over a new instalment of search and rescue equipment funded by USAID to the Fire Service and Civil Defence Training Centre at Mirpur in the capital. With a population of more than 15 million, Dhaka is the world’s one of the largest and fastest growing cities, she added.
The ambassador said, “There is so far no technology that will accurately predict when an earthquake will happen. We can examine reports and trends on seismic activity in the region and in the country, but we cannot predict occurrences in a way that would allow us to reliably evacuate before an earthquake strikes.” “We had a small example of this experience just last month, when tremors shook Dhaka early on the morning of January 4th.  That quake was another reminder that earthquakes can occur without warning and we need to be prepared to act in the event when a serious one strikes,” she said.
In times of natural crises, Bernicat said that it is imperative to have systems already in place, to have a trained cadre of first responders and medical staff, and to have the equipment and tools required to respond to the disaster.

Rapid urbanisation rises quake risk in Dhaka: US envoy

Very rapid urbanisation of capital Dhaka has increased the vulnerability to seismic events like earth quake and other urban catastrophes as urban planning and service delivery has simply not been able to keep pace with growth, United States Ambassador Marcia Bernicat said yesterday. This is why the strengthening earthquake resilience activity in Bangladesh is so important, she said while handing over a new instalment of search and rescue equipment funded by USAID to the Fire Service and Civil Defence Training Centre at Mirpur in the capital. With a population of more than 15 million, Dhaka is the worlds one of the largest and fastest growing cities, she added. The ambassador said, There is so far no technology that will accurately predict when an earthquake will happen. We can examine reports and trends on seismic activity in the region and in the country, but we cannot predict occurrences in a way that would allow us to reliably evacuate before an earthquake strikes. We had a small example of this experience just last month, when tremors shook Dhaka early on the morning of January 4th. That quake was another reminder that earthquakes can occur without warning and we need to be prepared to act in the event when a serious one strikes, she said. In times of natural crises, Bernicat said that it is imperative to have systems already in place, to have a trained cadre of first responders and medical staff, and to have the equipment and tools required to respond to the disaster.