Dhaka, Nov 22 (PTI) Three subsequent jolts after a relatively major earthquake claimed at least 10 lives within a span of 32 hours panicked Bangladesh amid experts warning of a major earthquake, calling the four ones as foreshocks.
A 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck on Friday morning causing at least 10 deaths and significant damage to buildings mostly in central parts of the country, including the capital Dhaka, while a subsequent tremor rocked the country at around the same time on Saturday morning.
The Bangladesh capital and adjoining administrative districts, including Narsingdi, the epicentre of the 5.7 magnitude quake, were jolted by two back to back jolts on Saturday evening.
The Bangladesh Meteorology Department (BMD) said the epicentre of the one of the subsequent three jolts was located beneath the surface of crowded Badda area in the capital city with rest being in Narsingdi.
Met office spokesman and meteorologist Tariful Newaz Kabir said two earthquakes struck on Saturday evening near simultaneously at 6 pm with one having its epicentre in Dhaka’s Badda area and the other in Narsingdi.
The Badda earthquake was of magnitude 3.7 on the Richter Scale, treated as minor tremor, and the second one at Narsingdi with a magnitude of 4.3 is regarded as a light one, he said.
At least 10 people were killed and several hundred were wounded as the first quake hit Bangladesh with a magnitude of 5.7 on the Richter Scale with its epicentre 10 kilometres beneath surface level in Narsingdi while it damaged multiple buildings in Dhaka and other districts.
BMD’s acting director Md Momenul Islam told reporters that the three consequent tremors were aftershocks of the first one that lasted for over 25 seconds.
“Although the magnitude was below six, the shaking lasted longer because the soil composition in our region is relatively weak,” he said.
Experts have long been warning that Bangladesh could suffer a major earthquake anytime soon as it sits on the collision zone of major tectonic plates, crossed by several active fault lines, exposing the country at high seismic risk.
Dhaka is considered one of the world’s 20 most earthquake-vulnerable cities with its very dense population and huge number of dilapidated buildings, many of them being in old part of the capital.
The region has a long history of powerful earthquakes, with five major tremors between 1869 and 1930 measuring above 7.0 on the Richter scale. PTI AR GSP GSP
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