Earthquake preparedness

Being located in and around seismic zones Bangladesh is prone to large scale quakes and a total number of nine quakes were recorded over the past year

Last Sunday, a study of the Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP) has revealed that there is a strong possibility for a tremor to hit Bangladesh sometime by 2018. More generally, this probability is drawn out from the assumption for being located in a seismic zone where big tremors hit every 100 years.
However, the fear is actually with our current state of preparedness for countering such a big scale disaster. The findings from the latest study fearfully suggests that If a big-scale quake hits our cities concurrently anytime now, around 73 per cent of buildings in Dhaka, 78 percent  in Chittagong and some 98 percent  in Sylhet will be severely damaged. Moreover, the government falls short of rescue equipments and so far it has trained around 30,000 urban volunteers over the last six years against the target of 62,000. Even more dangerously, some 321 risky and unsafe buildings recommended for immediate demolition still stand defiantly.
Needs mentioning, a little over two months ago, the National Earthquake Preparedness and Awareness Committee (NEAAC) requested the RAJUK and Dhaka City Corporations (DCCs) to remove the 321 identified risky buildings in order to avoid the risk of casualties during potential natural disasters but that hasn’t been realised . Back then, the time frame for removing these risky establishments was fixed within a month. So by now they should have been demolished. We call for their instant destruction.
 In short, the study has revealed – we are still not ready to deal with a sizable calamity and not to mention its shocking consequences. Being located in and around other seismic zones Bangladesh is prone to be hit by large scale quakes and a total number of nine quakes were recorded over the past year , all crossing the range of magnitude 4.5. During the time of writing a tremor ranging to over 4 in the Richter scale was recorded in Chittagong. Nevertheless, the attempt to assess post-calamity consequences by the committee is undeniably laudable, but two key issues in this regard need be efficiently addressed in advance. First, ensure proper rehabilitation of the occupants of those 321 risky buildings and second - quick implementation of recommendations made by the CDMP. Study, survey, statistics and research are not enough for launching a country wide awareness campaign; we want visible developments in this regard.   
 Optimistically, what can be done best right now are to speed-up the pre-emptive initiatives for countering an impending disaster while learning newer coping
strategies. Our records, in terms of dealing with natural calamities so far, have been globally recognised and we believe we can set a new record also in dealing with poweful earthquakes. 

Earthquake preparedness

Being located in and around seismic zones Bangladesh is prone to large scale quakes and a total number of nine quakes were recorded over the past year

Last Sunday, a study of the Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP) has revealed that there is a strong possibility for a tremor to hit Bangladesh sometime by 2018. More generally, this probability is drawn out from the assumption for being located in a seismic zone where big tremors hit every 100 years. However, the fear is actually with our current state of preparedness for countering such a big scale disaster. The findings from the latest study fearfully suggests that If a big-scale quake hits our cities concurrently anytime now, around 73 per cent of buildings in Dhaka, 78 percent in Chittagong and some 98 percent in Sylhet will be severely damaged. Moreover, the government falls short of rescue equipments and so far it has trained around 30,000 urban volunteers over the last six years against the target of 62,000. Even more dangerously, some 321 risky and unsafe buildings recommended for immediate demolition still stand defiantly. Needs mentioning, a little over two months ago, the National Earthquake Preparedness and Awareness Committee (NEAAC) requested the RAJUK and Dhaka City Corporations (DCCs) to remove the 321 identified risky buildings in order to avoid the risk of casualties during potential natural disasters but that hasnt been realised . Back then, the time frame for removing these risky establishments was fixed within a month. So by now they should have been demolished. We call for their instant destruction. In short, the study has revealed we are still not ready to deal with a sizable calamity and not to mention its shocking consequences. Being located in and around other seismic zones Bangladesh is prone to be hit by large scale quakes and a total number of nine quakes were recorded over the past year , all crossing the range of magnitude 4.5. During the time of writing a tremor ranging to over 4 in the Richter scale was recorded in Chittagong. Nevertheless, the attempt to assess post-calamity consequences by the committee is undeniably laudable, but two key issues in this regard need be efficiently addressed in advance. First, ensure proper rehabilitation of the occupants of those 321 risky buildings and second - quick implementation of recommendations made by the CDMP. Study, survey, statistics and research are not enough for launching a country wide awareness campaign; we want visible developments in this regard. Optimistically, what can be done best right now are to speed-up the pre-emptive initiatives for countering an impending disaster while learning newer coping strategies. Our records, in terms of dealing with natural calamities so far, have been globally recognised and we believe we can set a new record also in dealing with poweful earthquakes.