Experts have sternly cautioned that the recent repeated earthquakes, including Friday鈥檚 one, with magnitude 6 are a warning sign for a devastating quake of magnitude 7 or even higher that could result in an unprecedented level of casualties.
They said that research indicated a trend that strong earthquakes might recur every 100鈥�125 years and Bangladesh was almost at the juncture now.
The last earthquake with higher than magnitude 7 struck the country in the 1930s, they said, warning that another strong quake might strike any moment, said Professor Mehedi Ahmed Ansary, a disaster expert at civil engineering department at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.
鈥楾he latest earthquake is a foreshock of a strong one,鈥� he said on Friday.
According to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, 76 earthquakes have hit Bangladesh and neighbouring countries in 2025.
Mehedi Ahmed Ansary said that an earthquake over magnitude 7 could cause up to three lakh casualties as buildings in Dhaka were not built following the building code properly.
According to a Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha survey, 80 per cent of houses in Dhaka were built without official approval.
RAJUK鈥檚 Detailed Area Plan data shows that under its jurisdiction, 21 lakh structures, including 5.5 lakh multi-storied buildings, have been built with more than two floors.
RAJUK chief town planner Md Ashraful Islam said that there are now over 2,000 buildings above 10 stories, compared to 1,840 in 2019.
The experts emphasised the need to find out the vulnerable building and to retrofit them.
The latest, a moderate magnitude-5.7 earthquake, with its epicentre at Madhabdi in Narsingdi at a depth of 10 kilometres and just 24 kilometres from Dhaka, shook the capital and surrounding areas, leaving 10 people dead and over a thousand injured, mostly from jumping or being stampeded in panic on Friday.
Md Shakhawat Hossain, associate professor at the department of disaster science and climate resilience at Dhaka University, told 抖阴精品, 鈥楾his is the closest earthquake ever recorded near Dhaka with a magnitude of 5.7.鈥�
They explained that earthquakes of magnitude 6 to 6.9 are categorised as strong and can last over one minute, while those of magnitude 7 to 7.9 are considered major.
Geo-hazard specialist Mohan Kumar Das, joint secretary of the South Asian Meteorological Association, said that in recent years Bangladesh experienced repeated earthquakes and now stands in a 鈥榮ensitive鈥� condition for strong to major quakes.
鈥榃e do not have instruments to monitor tectonic plate movements and changes. If we did, we could have identified which sections are becoming sensitive to earthquakes and taken precautions to mitigate the risk,鈥� he said, adding that coordinated efforts between operational agencies and academic researchers are required for a better understanding of earthquake risks.
He also added that causalities of Friday鈥檚 quack occurred as most people did not have knowledge about immediate precautionary measures during earthquakes.
鈥榃e need to educate people about immediate precautionary measures by fire service, community clubs and volunteers.鈥櫬犅犅犅�
Experts said that major active faults in Bangladesh include the Dauki Fault in the Sylhet region and the Madhupur Fault near Dhaka, as identified in national geological mapping.
Bangladesh鈥檚 seismicity is strongly influenced by the northeastward movement of the Indian Plate and its interaction with adjacent plates and micro plates.
The country鈥檚 key fault systems, such as the Sylhet鈥揂ssam and Dauki faults are understood within this broader tectonic setting.
Following the Friday鈥檚 earthquake, specialists indicated that a minor branch of the Noakhali鈥揝ylhet fault system was linked to the epicentral activity in Narsingdi.
Meto Office report said that a series of major earthquakes historically affected areas near Dhaka: a magnitude-7.5 Cachar earthquake on January 10, 1889, 250km away; a magnitude-7.0 Bengal earthquake on July 14, 1885, 170km away, the magnitude-8.7 Great Indian earthquake on June 12, 1897, 230km away. the magnitude-8.3 Bihar-Nepal earthquake on January 15, 1934, 510km away, and the magnitude-8.6 Assam earthquake on August 15, 1950, 780 km away from Dhaka.
