The Fire Service and Civil Defence on Saturday issued an official alert identifying country鈥檚 three regions as the most vulnerable ones to earthquakes and urged all concerned to take proactive measures after destructive quakes hit Myanmar and Thailand on Friday.
Two powerful earthquakes, measured 7.7 and 6.4 on the Richter scale, on Friday struck various regions of Myanmar and Thailand causing significant damage to both countries, said a fire service press release.
鈥楾here is a strong possibility of similar earthquakes in Bangladesh, especially Chattogram, Sylhet, Mymensingh and Dhaka regions are in high-risk,鈥� alerted the fire service.
The quakes in Myanmar and Thailand left over 1,000 people dead and 2,300 injured with widespread damage, according to media reports.聽
In this situation, the fire service urged all concerned authorities to take a nine-point measure to mitigate earthquake risks, including constructing earthquake-resistant buildings in accordance with the Bangladesh National Building Code 2020, repairing and strengthening vulnerable and old buildings and strengthening fire prevention systems in all high-rise and commercial buildings.
The measures also included ensuring proper maintenance of utility services, including gas, water and electricity lines; conducting regular drills and awareness campaigns at individual, institutional, and community levels on actions to take during an earthquake; and keeping emergency contact numbers, such as fire service, ambulance, police, hospital and other emergency services at personal levels and keeping those visible in all buildings and establishments.
Moreover, the fire service also requested people receiving volunteer training to play an effective role during disasters.
It also suggested storing essential emergency supplies such as flashlights, radios with extra batteries, whistles, hammers, helmets, dry food, clean water, essential medicines, first-aid kits and childcare items and cooperation with monitoring agencies at all levels.
