Great Earthquakes In Diverse Places
Double earthquakes jolt Bangladesh on Eid
Press Trust Of India
Dhaka, September 11, 2010
Two earthquakes of 5.7 and 4.8 on Richter scale jolted north-west
Bangladesh, sparking nation-wide panic on Saturday on Eid-ul-Fitr.
According to the meteorological department, entire northwest and parts
of central Bangladesh experienced a tremor of 5.7 reading at around 1
pm (local time),
while the first quake with a magnitude of 4.8 on Richter shook most
parts of the country at midnight on Friday.
There is no report of any causality although one building in Chittagong
tilted, while a few suffered cracks elsewhere, an online news agency
said.
People, preparing to celebrate Eid after a month-long fasting during
Ramadan, came out of their houses experiencing the first tremor on
Friday night. There is a growing fear among Bangladeshis of a possible
major earthquake anytime.
According to the US Geological Survey, as quoted by Met department, the
epicentre of the second earthquake was 46 kms off Agargaon in Dhaka.
The department did not provide any further detail.
The epicentre of the first quake is supposed to located about 7 kms
southwest of Dhaka.
The online version of a newspaper, however, said the second tremors
occurred at Dhaleshwari fault line near the confluence of
Dhaleswari-Shitalakkya rivers in central Bangladesh. The paper quoted
an expert, who also feared that such kind of tremors indicate a big
earthquake could hit the country in near future.
The tremors came weeks after a Minister quoting experts said an
earthquake measuring 7.5 on Richter scale may kill 90,000 people
instantly and destroy 72,000 buildings in Dhaka alone.
"If a quake of that magnitude takes place at night the number of
casualties are feared to be 90,000 casualties while the figure could be
70,000 if it hit during the day time," disaster management minister
Abdur Razzaque recently told the Parliament.
He, however, said there was no sign for an 8.0 magnitude earthquake in
the city but a fault existing at suburban Madhupur, 60 kms off Dhaka,
might cause a 7.0 to 7.5-magnitude earthquake.
The minister said there would be a loss of about $ 6 billion or half of
national budget for structural damage following such a quake, while a
tremor from the Madhupur Fault would generate 30 million tonnes of
debris.