Earthquake and its intensity in different parts of Bangladesh including Dhaka

Shifat Info

7 Mar, 2024

In recent years, earthquakes and its intensity have been felt in various parts of Bangladesh including Dhaka, causing severe panic in the minds of the public. This post discusses earthquakes and its intensity in different parts of Bangladesh including Dhaka. Read the full post to know about it.

It is very important for us to know about the earthquake and its severity in different parts of Bangladesh including Dhaka. In addition, the impact of earthquakes on people's lives is many. This post has a detailed discussion about that, let's take the post later.

Introduction

Earthquake is a fear in Bangladesh at present. We have experienced several earthquakes in the last few months. It is important to know about the cause of this earthquake and its intensity. In this post, earthquakes in Bangladesh, history of major earthquakes in Bangladesh, earthquakes in different parts of Bangladesh including Dhaka and their severity, possible damage to Bangladesh in earthquakes, what can be done in earthquakes have been discussed in detail.

What is an earthquake

The vibration of land are called earthquakes. We feel earthquakes when one rock in the Earth's crust moves up on top of another. In another way, we can say that an earthquake occurs when there is a sudden change in the position of a part of the earth's surface. According to researchers, the world experiences an average of 6,000 earthquakes per year.

Causes and types of earthquakes

Our Earth's surface is made up of many plates and there are faults or cracks from one plate to another. Each plate is different from each other. Most of the molten material in the Earth's interior lies beneath these plates. When the place of these molten materials changes, some change of location of the plates is observed.

Then some part of these plates enters the bottom of the other plate, due to which the ground vibrates and then this vibration appears to us as an earthquake. There are three types of earthquakes such as mild, moderate and severe. According to experts, an average of 6,000 earthquakes are felt annually, most of which are mild, so we do not feel those earthquakes.

Earthquake in Bangladesh

Recently, several earthquakes have been felt in Bangladesh. To say about earthquakes and their intensity in various parts of Bangladesh including Dhaka, since May 2023 till now about three to four small to medium earthquakes have been felt and their origin was inside or around the borders of the country.

According to earthquake experts, the cause of earthquakes in Bangladesh is mainly the movement of the Burmese plate and the Indian plate towards each other. More worryingly, there is a lot of energy stored at the junction of these two plates that is looking for a way out, causing frequent earthquakes. Dr. Syed Humayun Akhtar, a former teacher of Geology Department of Dhaka University, also said about this.

He said that before or after two days this energy will come out and that is what these small earthquakes are telling us. According to geologists, Bangladesh has two tectonic plates, one is the Indian plate in the mountainous region of Bangladesh and the other is the Burma plate. Between these two plates, the Indian plate is moving towards the northeast and the Burma plate is moving towards the west, resulting in mutual collision.

The junction between the Indian Plate and the Burma Plate is quite deep. Areas of Bangladesh where earthquakes occur especially in Sylhet area are shallow depth means less deep. In Bangladesh on August 14, 2023 at 8:49 PM an earthquake was felt in most parts of the country including the capital with a magnitude of 5.5 on the Richter scale and its origin was in the Kanai Ghat area of Sylhet on the Bangladesh-India border and its depth was only 10 km.

Earlier also on June 16, 2023, an earthquake of magnitude 4.5 was felt across the country including the capital and its source was Gopalganj in Sylhet. Also, on May 5, 2023, another earthquake was felt in and around Dhaka. The magnitude of this earthquake was 4.3 according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and its source was about 14 km northwest of Doha in Bikrampur near Dhaka and its depth was 10 km.

History of major earthquakes in Bangladesh

If we talk about earthquakes and their intensity in different places of Bangladesh including Dhaka, then it will come that the first earthquake was felt in the territory of Bangladesh in 1548. As a result of this, the soil in different parts of Chittagong and Sylhet was split into two parts and a lot of foul-smelling mud water was reported to come out, but no casualty was reported.

The biggest earthquake in the history of Bangladesh happened in April 1762. In this earthquake, the soil ruptured in many places of Chittagong district and a large amount of mud water was released, which was found in the information of 'Eastern Bengal District Gazetteer Chittagong' in 1908. Also found here is a place called 'Pardavan' where a big river dries up.

Another big earthquake called 'The Great Indian Earthquake' occurred on 12 June 1897. It is a devastating earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 8 on the Richter scale. The death toll in this earthquake was 545 people in Sylhet district alone and as a result of this earthquake, Dhaka Mymensingh rail road communication was disrupted.

In addition, other districts in the eastern region including Rajshahi were also affected and it is estimated that the loss of property was about 50 lakh rupees. In 1642, a powerful earthquake struck Sylhet, damaging many buildings but causing no casualties. According to the 'Eastern Bengal District Gazetteer Chittagong' in 1912, another strong earthquake was described in the winter of 1865.

In this earthquake, a hill in Sitakunda erupted and sand and mud came out, but surprisingly no casualty was reported in this earthquake. In 1885 Manikganj was hit by a magnitude 7 earthquake known as 'Bengal Earthquake'. Its place of origin was Kodalia in Saturia, 170 km away from Dhaka.

It is believed that the intensity of the earthquake was so high that its tremors were felt in Sikkim, Manipur, Bihar and Myanmar in India and many buildings in Mymensingh, Sherpur, Pabna, Sirajganj including Dhaka were damaged in this earthquake but seriously No damage information was found.

Also in 1918, an earthquake of magnitude 7.6 was felt with its origin in the northeastern region of Myanmar and India and in Sylhet, Bangladesh. On August 15, 1950, an earthquake of magnitude 8.7 was felt in Assam. It was also felt in various parts of Bangladesh but no casualty was reported. In 1997, a magnitude 6 earthquake hit Chittagong on November 22 and in July 1999, a 5.2 earthquake occurred.

Earthquake and its intensity in different places including Dhaka

Eight earthquakes and their intensity have been felt in various parts of Bangladesh including Dhaka in the last 12 years and most of them were centered in Sylhet and Chittagong areas. Two earthquake patterns in 2023 were found to be similar to those that occurred 211 years ago. Between April and May 1812, two consecutive earthquakes hit the vicinity of Dhaka.

However, the exact magnitude of this earthquake is not known but the damage information is available. According to experts, the risk of major earthquakes is increasing in Dhaka city. On May 8, 2023, at five fifty-seven minutes in the morning, an earthquake was felt in various areas including Dhaka. Its magnitude was 4.3 on the Richter scale and its origin was 14 km east-south of Doha, Dhaka.

The depth of this earthquake was 10 km from the surface. An earthquake of magnitude 4 occurred in Rupganj of Narayanganj on April 25, 2023. The earthquake was not felt by the city dwellers as its depth was about 17 km underground. Because the deeper the epicenter of the earthquake, the less the feeling of tremors.

A survey on earthquakes by the Geology Department of Dhaka University said that 52 mild, moderate and severe earthquakes occurred within the territory of Bangladesh in the last 485 years and within 200 km. Out of which, only six earthquakes occurred in Dhaka and its surroundings, the centers of these earthquakes were Mymensingh, Narsingdi, Manikganj, Narayanganj and Doha.

Besides, most of the earthquakes were centered in Sylhet and Chittagong areas. From 2008 to 2012, six earthquakes were organized in Comilla and Chandpur districts. In addition, in the following years, the epicenter of this earthquake was mainly in Chittagong, Cox's Bazar and Sylhet areas, but in recent years, the epicenter of the earthquake is felt more around Dhaka.

This is attributed to the subduction of the Burma plate inside Bangladesh on the Indian plate, resulting in a large amount of energy being stored, which will eventually be released, resulting in major earthquakes.

Possible damage to Bangladesh in an earthquake

Allegations of irregularities or corruption in the construction of commercial and residential buildings in Bangladesh are not new. Most of the buildings in Bangladesh are being constructed without following any rules, as a result the risk of building collapse is increasing.

Transparency International in a 2020 study in Bangladesh said building codes in Bangladesh are not being followed when constructing buildings. Experts are not consulted in approving and implementing the design of the building.

Bangladeshi geologists and urban planners think that if there is a big earthquake in Bangladesh, the amount of damage or loss of life may be more than the earthquake tragedy that happened in Turkey and the biggest reason for this damage will be unplanned construction of buildings.

In 2009, the joint involvement of CDMP and JICA said that if an earthquake of magnitude 7 or more is felt in Dhaka, about 72 thousand buildings may collapse and millions of lives will be lost and about 35 thousand buildings will be damaged. A pile of seven million tons of concrete will be made.

Things to do in an earthquake

Keeping in mind the impending horror of the earthquake, we have to make advance preparations from now on. Although there is no preparedness for an earthquake in Bangladesh, the Bangladesh government has kept the city corporation ready for rescue work and 36,000 more trained volunteers have been kept ready and their responsibilities have been divided.

Military forces are also given responsibility. The main action to prevent earthquakes is to identify and demolish vulnerable buildings. Constructing buildings in accordance with building codes. Keeping a certain amount of space between each building. In case of an earthquake, sending earthquake warnings to people through smartphones.

Creating earthquake games through which young people can learn steps to take during an earthquake. To raise awareness among people at all levels about earthquakes and to train them on what to do properly. In this way we can prevent the damage caused during earthquakes to a large extent.

Author's comments

In today's post, there is a detailed discussion about the earthquake and its severity in different parts of Bangladesh including Dhaka. Hope this post will increase the awareness of the readers about earthquakes. If you like this post then share it with your friends and follow the page to get more information daily. Comment to know more thank you.