Recent quakes put our reflexes to test
THE series of earthquakes that shook the country recently have tumbled the nation into yet another grimmer kind of reality.
Meanwhile, the print and the electronic media have carried a good number of reports, and organised discussions where experts and others concerned participated. After all these media activities on the recent earthquake incidents, it may appear that enough has been said and done about the issue. So, have those media activities really exhausted the subject once and for all? Not in the least.
On the contrary, those have only provided the quid pro quo for more discussions and activities for getting prepared against the new danger we are faced with. If truth be told, there is little room for any complacency when we are talking about such a serious issue like earthquake and that too against the backdrop of the last few days' experience.
Experts or others, who expressed concern about any future quake of still higher intensity than so far experienced by us, were unanimous in their view that such an eventuality would be extremely disastrous in terms of the havoc that it may cause to life and property. The way the densely populated urban centres in the country, especially in the major divisional headquarters and the capital city, have grown (in a mindless fashion, let alone following any plan), one can easily imagine what a nightmare of a rescue operation it may turn out to be even for the most skilled outfit created for the purpose.
So, the most crucial part of any post-quake rescue operation in this part of the world, especially in its sprawling urban centres, would be to have a complete picture of the city in hand and a foolproof strategy to handle the task involved. Hopefully, the disaster management authorities are duly tuned in to the gravity of the issue.
In this era of information explosion, it is not hard even for the common man to know the extent of the devastations that the recent earthquakes had caused to countries like Italy, China, Indonesia, Iran and Pakistan. And they have not also failed to note how helpless the governments of those countries became in the face of those disasters in spite of the fact that many of those countries were better placed both in terms of resources and preparedness to face such calamities.
Unfortunately, in comparison to them our resources are limited and the level of preparedness to face such disasters is far from adequate, to say the least. Moreover, we lack previous experience of an earthquake of devastating proportions.
But these limitations should not be any excuse for laxity and foot-dragging on our part, seeing that the recent quakes have been coming by fits and starts. At the same time, we must be thankful to our stars for the simple reason that the tremors that had hit different regions of the country so far were rather moderate in intensity.
What would happen in the case of a seismic event of greater intensity, say, measuring seven on the Richter scale, has been graphically described the other day in this paper by Mehdi Ahmed Ansary, the vice-president of Bangladesh Earthquake Society and professor of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet).
The casualty figure, depending on the timing of the strike, would range between 22,000 and 28, 000, while the number of the injured may go as high as 100,000, he warned. In the same report of this paper on August 13, an earthquake expert ASM Maksud Kamal referred to the 1999 UN study, which identified Dhaka as the most earthquake-prone city after Tehran.
Against such a depressing background, the cause for quake concern in Bangladesh need not be overemphasised. But then does our present level of preparations against any future earthquake really match the concerns expressed by the well-meaning on different occasions?
As noted in the foregoing, excuses of resource constraints, lack of expertise and trained men and materials are not going to help us in any way. That is because, unlike floods, storms and cyclones, which we are used to, quakes cannot be predicted.
Except a rule of thumb, such as repeated occurrence of smaller tremors, the position of the earth's tectonic plates and the history of recent seismic activities in the vicinity of a place, closeness of an active volcano and so on, there is no sure-fire way to know if any big tremor is in the making.
Therefore, given the history of recent incidences of tremors and the location of highly active seismic spots around, all concerned have little scope to take any chance and be lax.
What has to be done in the wake of a big tremor is well known. And the authorities can also borrow further expertise from other countries. But while doing what is necessary, public awareness programs should be started without delay. One need not be an alarmist to say so, for we are already doing similar exercises for floods, tidal bores and cyclones. So, it won't be demanding too much to add yet another item to our list of calamities we have been fighting so far day in, day out.
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