Key Points:
- A 5.7 magnitude earthquake struck Bangladesh, with its epicenter located near Narsingdi, causing strong tremors across the capital, Dhaka
- The event tragically resulted in three fatalities in Dhaka’s Old Town area after a building railing collapsed during the shaking
- The incident highlights the critical need for updated urban planning and stringent enforcement of building codes in highly populated, earthquake-prone zones like Dhaka
A moderate but impactful 5.7 magnitude earthquake jolted Bangladesh on Friday morning, tragically claiming at least three lives in the densely populated capital, Dhaka. The tremor, though brief, immediately drew urgent attention to the persistent seismic risk threatening one of the world’s most vulnerable major cities.
The Morning Quake and Immediate Impact
The earthquake struck at approximately 10:38 a.m. local time. The Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) recorded the tremor’s magnitude at 5.7 on the Richter scale, placing its epicenter near Madhabdi in the Narsingdi district, roughly 50 kilometers northeast of Dhaka. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) corroborated the quake, locating the epicenter 14 kilometers west-southwest of Narsingdi at a shallow depth of 10 kilometers.
The shallow depth is a crucial factor, as it often translates to more intense ground shaking closer to the epicenter, increasing the potential for damage.
Fatalities Confirmed in Old Dhaka
The fatalities were reported in Dhaka’s historical Old Town area. Police confirmed the deaths were a result of a structural failure during the tremor. Ashish Kumar, a duty officer at the Bangshal Police Station, reported that “a railing from a five-story building collapsed and fell amid the earthquake.” The collapse tragically killed two pedestrians instantly, with a third succumbing to injuries after being rushed to Sir Salimullah Medical College and Mitford Hospital.
Deputy Commissioner of DMP’s Lalbagh Division, Mallik Ahsan Uddin Sami, confirmed the incident, stating that the railing, along with bamboo scaffolding and debris, fell onto bystanders in the Armanitola area. The Business Standard reported that one local witness noted the collapse occurred near a crowded spot shortly after the quake hit, underscoring the lethal threat posed by dilapidated structures in Old Dhaka.
Geopolitical and Structural Vulnerability
Bangladesh lies at the junction of three major tectonic plates, the Indian, Eurasian, and Burma plates. The active movement of these plates, with the Indian plate pushing northeastward, subjects the region to constant seismic risk. Major fault lines, including the Bogura, Tripura, Dauki, and Assam faults, intersect the country, classifying it within 13 identified earthquake-prone zones.
Dhaka, a city with a population density exceeding 30,000 people per square kilometer, has been repeatedly flagged by experts as one of the 20 most earthquake-vulnerable cities globally. Many buildings, particularly in older districts, fail to meet modern seismic risk standards, lacking adequate reinforcement to withstand even moderate tremors. This structural fragility transforms a natural event into a severe urban disaster risk.
Calls for Proactive Disaster Mitigation
This latest earthquake serves as a sharp reminder for authorities to accelerate disaster preparedness and mitigation efforts. While emergency responders were immediately deployed to assess structural damage and assist residents, the focus must shift to proactive prevention.
The incident is prompting renewed public discussion concerning the enforcement of building codes. Experts argue that comprehensive seismic risk assessments and retrofitting programs for non-compliant structures must become a national priority, especially for the high-risk areas identified in Chattogram, the Chattogram Hill Tracts, and Jaintiapur in Sylhet.
The recent event, while causing minimal widespread damage, provides a necessary wake-up call. Protecting the millions of inhabitants in Bangladesh’s burgeoning urban centres requires political will, financial investment, and a collective commitment to engineering resilience against the inescapable reality of geological forces.
