Chittagong tremors serve a notice

The earthquake of 'moderate intensity' damaged at least five hundred buildings and 25 people are reported to have been injured. People in the port city came out of their homes after the second quake struck at noon. So the impact of the tremors was not negligible. We may recall here that an earthquake killed 22 people at Chittagong in 1997, the zone being the most tremor-prone in the country.

So the warnings given by the experts that a major quake might strike Bangladesh in the very near future have to be heeded, if we want to minimise the losses in the event of such a disaster. Though earthquakes are far from predictable, it is a matter of great worry that Dhaka city is situated on the same tectonic plate as the western Indian town of Bhuj, which was battered by a major earthquake a few years back.

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The question of earthquake preparedness especially arises at this point in time, as seismic surveys suggest that Bangladesh is at risk of being rocked by a major earthquake. But apart from the meetings and seminars, where the experts cry hoarse to make us realise that the danger is far more potent than is generally perceived to be, few steps have been taken to brace up for the devastating impact of a severe earthquake.

Few builders feel the necessity of making the new buildings resistant to earthquakes, and even if they do, the number of buildings constructed with such safety provisions is still very small. So, the scale of devastation predictably can be huge.

The government should attach due importance to earthquake preparedness and raise special teams of rescue operators in advance to minimise the losses in terms of human lives and property in the event of major tremors.