With another moderate earthquake rocking parts of Bangladesh on Saturday morning, once again we are faced with the question of earthquake preparedness.
On Saturday morning, the capital city witnessed an earthquake of around 5.6 magnitude in the Richter scale, while no damage was reported with the epicentre being located in Comilla. While no structural damage of any serious magnitude was reported, the earthquake caused visible cracks to form in three residential halls of Comilla University and widespread panic in an RMG factory and Dhaka University.
It has been known for some time now that a major earthquake -- quantified at a magnitude of roughly 7 in the Richter scale -- could potentially cripple our nation’s disaster response capabilities and pose a sizable challenge to any rebuilding efforts. This applies doubly to Dhaka, a city of incredible population density and a history of unplanned urbanization with little to no regard for structural integrity.
Given the panic witnessed in Dhaka University, where students opted to jump off from hall buildings, and the 200-plus garment factory workers who were injured while rushing out of a factory building in Comilla, our institutions are failing miserably when it comes to earthquake drills. Educational and commercial institutions need to hold periodic earthquake drills to make sure that everyone involved is trained with the best practices in order to survive an earthquake.
However, the biggest fault lies at a structural level. Around 56.26% of all buildings in Dhaka are at high risk and 36.87% at moderate risk of damage from an earthquake of magnitude 4 or higher, according to a recent study by the Housing and Building Research Institute.
If Bangladesh were to be hit by an earthquake the same size as that witnessed in Syria and Turkey earlier this year, close to 80% of the buildings would be in imminent threat of collapse. We need to be prepared for anything from this point onwards.
Thursday, June 04, 2026
