Earthquake is one of the most dreadful natural calamities in this world. Generally earthquake refers to a shake or a series of shake on the surface of the earth. It emerges for a few seconds: but it causes a heavy damage on the earth. Bangladesh lies in the active earthquake zone and she has faced recurrent quakes during the recent years. That Bangladesh is an earthquake prone country in south Asia is not unknown to Bangladeshis. Experts suggest that the recurrence of quakes in recent years should be taken as a signal for a major earthquake. The buildings of Dhaka city as well as other cities are quite unsafe in the event of an earthquake. It is anticipated that Dhaka city would be seriously affected in an earthquake measuring a magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter scale. Alarmed by the recurrence of quakes during recent years, experts have called for the development of an earthquake resistant building code which all buildings should follow as mandatory.
Bangladesh is consistently ranked one of the most vulnerable countries to natural disasters, but this is primarily because of the frequent occurrence of tropical cyclones, floods, heat waves and other weather-related disasters, combined with the massive population living in vulnerable conditions. Though there are a number of fault lines in the geographical area comprising Bangladesh, none of them is active to pose a major threat. If the buildings are built maintaining an earthquake resistant building code, it will be possible to reduce the losses.
As earthquake is a natural disaster and man has no control over it, it is not avoidable. But the government should take some pre-cautionary menus to see the human lives and to reduce the losses. Following the earthquake resistant boats code as mandatory and development of people’s awareness have no alternatives. Besides if it be possible to give a signal of earthquake brine its emerging, men will be able to save themselves by taking shelter in a safer place.
