Bangladesh J. Environ. Sci. Vol.

17, 13-20, 2009 @ BAED ISSN 1561-9206

VULNERABILITY OF EARTHQUAKE DISASTER IN BANGLADESH

M.A Sattar, M.S. Rana and M. T. Islam
Department of Environmental Science, Bangladesh Agricultural University,Mymensingh.
1. ABSTRACT
Earthquake is one of the most natural disasters causes a great loss of lives and properties. It causes severe
damages of buildings, roads, bridges, including the changes of civilization. Earthquake proves that
nothing is universal except changes. Past history showed that every country faced minor to major
earthquake including Bangladesh. Bangladesh faced severe earthquake in the 18th century which caused
wide damages. On the basis of earthquake severity Bangladesh has three zones like zone-I covers Sylhet
and Mymensingh regions, zone-II Dhaka and zone-III northern and costal regions. There is possibility of
occurrence of major earthquake in Bangladesh. So, wide research is essential. Earthquake cannot be
controlled or protected but awareness is essential for saving the lives and properties. Here earthquake
disaster is critically evaluated and awareness guideline has been widely established.
Key Words: Vulnerability, Earthquake, Observation, recommendations.
2. Introduction:
Earthquake, a series of shock waves generated at a point (focus) within the crust or mantle of the earth. It is
the trembling or shaking movement of the earth surface. Earthquake is the result from sudden release of
stored energy in the earth’s crust that creates seismic waves. The point within the earth where earthquake
waves originate is called focus from where the vibration spreads in all directions. The point directly above
the focus on the surface is called epicenter where shock of the earthquake is first experienced. Any natural
or manmade shake or movement on the earth surface or interior of the earth can be termed as an
Earthquake. The movement may be felt or may not be felt by any one, but at some instances one can
experience or see the devastating rolling of earth surface causing loss of any thing of his belongings. In
such case earthquake will be simply a horrifying experience rather than a learning tool as human being
loses all his senses during the roll, the survivors are unable to describe what they felt or seen.
3. Earthquake Disaster in the World/Earthquake History in the World
Most naturally occurring earthquakes are related to the tectonic nature of the Earth. Small earthquakes occur
nearly constantly around the world in places like California and Alaska in the U.S. as well as Indonesia, Azores
in Portugal and Japan. As a result, many more earthquakes are reported than in the past because of the vast
important in instrumentation. The USGS estimates that- since 1900, there have been an average of 18 major
earthquakes (magnitude 7.0-7.9) and one great earthquake (magnitude 8.0 or greater) per year, and that this
average has been relatively stable. During last 500 years several thousand earthquake disasters were recorded
from different countries of the world. Of all the seismic moment released is earthquake in the 100 years from
1906 through 2O05. Roughly one-eighth was due to the Sumatra-Andaman event. This quake, together with the
Great Friday Earthquakes (Alaska, 1964) and the Great Chilean Earthquakes (1960), account for almost half of
the total moment. The deadliest earthquakes since 1900 were the Tangshan, China earthquakes of 1976, in which
at least 255,000 were killed; the earthquakes of 1972 in Xining, Qinghai, China (200,000); the Great Knato
earthquakes which struck Tokyo in 1923 (143,000); and the Gansu, China, earthquake of 1920 (200,000). The
deadliest known earthquakes in history occurred in 1556 in Shaanxi, China with an estimated dead toll of
830,000. The 2004 tsunami is the deadliest in recorded history. Messing, Italy, on the Mediterranean Sea, where
the earthquake and tsunami killed 70,000. The most deadly tsunami in the Atlantic Ocean resulted from 1755 l e.
which, combined with the toll from the actual earthquake and resulting fines killed over 100,000. On 13 January,
2010 at the Caribou region earthquake knocked Haiti is killing at least 10, 0000 people and destroying around
2.05 million houses. On 27 February, 2010 at the “Puente Viejo” (Old bridge) over the Bio-Bio river, that links
Concepcion and Pedro de la Paz, 500 km south of Santiago, after a huge 8.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Chile
killing at least 300 people and destroying around 1.5 million houses.
4. Causes of Earthquake
Most earthquakes are caused by the sudden slip along geologic faults. The faults slip because of movement
of the earth’s tectonic plates. This concept is called the elastic rebound theory. The rocky tectonic plates
move very slowly, floating on top of a weaker rocky layer. As the plates collide with each other or slide
past each other, pressure builds up within the rocky crust. Earthquakes occur when pressure within the crust
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increases slowly over hundreds of years and finally exceeds the strength of the rocks. Earthquakes also
occur when human activities, such as the filling of reservoirs, increase stress in the earth’s crust. The
fracture of rocks in faulting on volcanic explosion. Percussion on sudden blows, from an explosion (quarry
blast, atom bomb, volcanic eruption), from traffic(trucks, tanks, trains), on from rock-falls(from cliffs,
waterfalls, cavers, or mines). The rubbing together of to uneven surfaces in faulting, landslides, avalanches,
and sub marine slumping of sediments. Sattar (2009) listed 20 causes of earthquake disaster.

Fig. 1. The interior section of the earth, the crust, the mantle and the core.

5. Earthquake Science
The CRUST is top thin layer; its thickness varies from 5 to 70 km.(Fig.1). The average thickness is 30 km.
It is hard and brittle and most of the devastating quakes are generated within this crust. The boundary
surface or sharp seismic-velocity discontinuity that separates the earth’s crust from the underlying Mantle
is known as Mohorovicic discontinuity-

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The MANTLE is largest layer of the earth, located below the crust. Its thickness is about 2900 km.(Fig.1).
It is naturally hot and composed of relatively viscous matter. Some times earthquakes are produced in
Thayer too, but these are not as devastating as of crust quakes.
The CORE is inner ball of the earth; its thickness is about 47 km.(Fig.1). It is believed that the inner core
is solid and the outer core is liquid. Earthquakes are produced here too but do not reach to the surface.
Earthquakes are the detectable shaking of the earth’s surface resulting from seismic waves generated by a
sudden release of energy from within the earth. The seismic waves can be generated from three main
sources thus producing the types of earthquakes Tectonic movement, Volcanic activity and Human activity.
Tectonic movement
The earth’s crust is formed of large pieces of solid plates that are widely known as Tectonic Plates. There
are about 16 plates of different sizes and shapes. Such as African Plate, Pacific Plate, Antarctic Plate,
Eurasian Plate, Australian Plate, North and South American Plates and Indian Plate etc. These plates are
floating on the viscous mantle, like large ships on the oceans and non-of these plates are stationary. Most of
the earthquakes are generated or related to the plate boundaries. The past earthquakes are distributed in
such a way that if we plot all the historical earthquakes than we simply gets in to a map that resembles to
the plate boundary map of the earth. Most of the plate boundaries are located along the mid-oceans. There
are few plate boundaries located in the continents among which the Indian-China plate and the North
America-Pacific plate boundaries are significant.
Volcanic activity
Though most of the earthquakes generated due to tectonic movements, there are several earthquakes that are
produced due to volcanic activity. The distribution of volcanoes is closely associated with plate boundaries. Its
are not concern to volcanic earthquakes as Bangladesh is less affected from volcanic earthquakes. The
Southeast Asian countries are more affected by volcanic hazards and volcanic earthquakes.
Human activity
There are several reports that earthquakes are some times generated due to modern human activities. The activities
include construction of big reservoir dams, bomb and airplane explosion and underground nuclear blasts.
6. Geology of Bangladesh
The major part of Bangladesh is occupied by one of the largest delta of the world formed by the Ganges-
Brahmaputra-Meghna river system. It is almost entirely formed of vast alluvial and deltaic plain with some strips of
hills on the north-east and eastern margins. Half of the country is lower than elevation of 12.5 m above sea level.
The elevation of hilly areas lies between 70 and 1000 meters. The alluvial plains have the elevation from about 90m
in the north-western part of the country of 0 m along the coastal part. Apart from these, there are three tracts of
Terraces in the country with a maximum elevation of 40m. Geologically, 80% of the surface and near surface of the
country is formed of Holocene deposits. The Tertiary racks forming small hills occupy the eastern and north-eastern
parts of the country. The oldest exposed rock is the Tara Sandstone of Paleocene age but older rocks like Mesozoic,
Paleozoic and Precambrian Basement have been encountered in the drill holes in the north-western part of the
country. Mainly sandstone, siltstone, shale and clay stone represent the Tertiary rocks. The highly oxidized
Pleistocene soils are exposed in three isolated uplifted blocks. The Holocene deposits, consisting of unconsolidated
sand, silt and clay of varying amounts, are the products of piedmont alluvial, fluvial deltaic or coastal environment.
All these materials behave differently during various geo-dynamics activates and geological hazards below a thick
geological time (Permian to Recent) the basement of Bengal basin, below a thick sedimentary cover, has been
severely faulted and fractured. Rahman (1987) identified that most of rives of Bangladesh are tectonically
controlled. The faults and tectonic elements are covered under recent surficial deposits (Alam et al, 1990).
Bangladesh is surrounded by high seismic regions. It had experienced several major earthquakes during the last 100
years and has been affected by small earthquakes occasionally. Although most of the epicenters of large earthquakes
lie beyond the border of the country. They equally affect the country for its morpho-tectonic continuity. The
seismicity of Bangladesh is deeply related to tectonic behaviour in and around Bangladesh, namely the sub ducting
of the Indian plate below the Eurasian plate in the north. A study in the eastern part of the country on different faults
has shown that most of these are still active (Rahman and Karim, 1992). A comparative study between the well
defined structural elements and past earthquakes (Rahman and Karim, 1992) indicates that the past earthquakes are
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structurally controlled and for land use planning or geotechnical engineering purposes geological investigation of
tectonic elements is necessary to evaluate or assess seismic hazards. The deltaic deposits (up to the depth of 10 m)
of Bangladesh below the Latitude 24 are strongly susceptible to liquefaction (Karim et al., 1990).
7. Earthquake Disaster History in Bangladesh
Earthquake information in Bangladesh is available for the last-250 years. During 20th century Bangladesh
faced more than 100 (small and medium) earthquakes. Recently, earthquakes and tectonic activity were
found to be increased in Bangladesh. The history of earthquakes in Bangladesh and surrounding areas
(GSB, 1979; Hossain, 1988; and Karim, et al,. 1990) indicates that many severe earthquakes have occurred
in this landmass in the past. Some major earthquakes occurred in Bangladesh in 1548 (Sylhet and
chittagong), 1942 (Sylhet), 1663 (Sylhet and Asam), 1762 (great earthquake in Dhaka), 1775 (Dhaka),
1812 (Sylhet), 1889 (Sylhet), 1897 (great Indian earthquake Dhaka-Mymensingh), 1918 (Srimongal
earthquake), 1930 (Dhubri earthquake Rangpur), 1934 (Bihar-Nepal earthquake), 1950 (Asam earthquake-
enter Bangladesh), 1997 (Chittagong earthquake), 1999 (Moheskhali Island earthquake). The region
enjoyed 7 major earthquakes in 1869-1950 and caused severe damages with magnitude of 7.0-8.5 Richter
scale (Table 1; Karim, 1999). During 1990 Chittagong region also enjoyed 3 major earthquakes (Table 2;
Karim, 1999) and caused wide damages.
The Cachar Earthquake of January 10, 1869 with epicenter in the northern border Jaintia Hill of Assam
caused great damage in Manipur and Cachar district of Assam. In Bangladesh, major damage occurred only
in the eastern parts of the Sylhet district but the tremor was felt all over the country. The magnitude is
estimated to be 7.5 in the Richter scale. The Bengal Earthquake of July 14, 1885 caused considerable
damages in Sirajganj-Bogra region and perhaps more severe damages in Jamalpur-Sherpur-Mymensingh
region. The magnitude is estimated to be 7.0 in the Richter scale. The great earthquake of June 12, 1897 of
magnitude 8.7 in the Richter scale with the epicenter area in the central part of the Shillong plateau was one
of the greatest earthquakes in the world and in Bangladesh was perhaps the cause of greatest and most
widespread earthquake damages. Damages were very severe in Sylhet, northern Mymensingh and eastern
Rangpur and minor damage occurred practically throughout the country.
Table 1. List of major historical earthquakes in and around Bangladesh ( Karim 1999).
Date Name Epicenter Magnitude Affected area
(Richter Scale)
January10, 1869 Kachar Jaintia Hills 7.5 Sylhet town and suburbs
severely affected
July14, 1885 The Bengal Bogra Fault 7.0 Jamalpur-Sherpur-
Earthquake Mymemsingh region suffered
June12, 1897 The Great Indian Shillong Plateau 8.7 Surface fissures developed in
Earthquake Raipura and Brahmanbaria
July8, 1918 Srimangal Balisera Valley in 7.3 Akhaura railway station brick
Srimangal structures collapsed
July3, 1930 Dhubri Dhubri Town of 7.1 Rangpur experienced severe
Assam tremor
January15, 1934 Bihar-Nepal Darbhanga 8.3 Felt in Bangladesh
August15, 1950 Assam Arunachal Pradesh 8.5 Felt throughout Bangladesh
Table 2. List of few significant modern days earthquakes in and around Bangladesh; ;( Karim 1999)
Date Name Epicenter Magnitude Affected area
(Richter
Scale)
May8, 1997 -- Lat 24.89 Long 92.25 6Mb Felt in and around Sylhet Data from
23 km depth USGS
November21,1997 Chittagong Lat 22.21 Long 92.83 6Mb Earthquake followed by few
57 km depth Indo- aftershocks. One RCC Building in
Bangladesh border Chittagong City,Collapsed
July22 1999 Moheshkhali Lat 21.47 Long 91.92 5.2Mb Earthquake followed by few
10 km depth aftershocks. Caused Landslides,
considerable damage of kachcha houses

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Fig.2. Seismicity from International seismological Summary Hypocenter files (Hossain and Choudhury 1999)
8. Earthquake Disaster and Seismic Zoning of Bangladesh
Bangladesh is surrounded by the regions of high seismicity which include the Himalayan Arc and Shillong
platen in the north, the Burmese Arc, Arakan yoma anticlinoria in the east and complex Naga Disang Jaflong
thrust zones in the northeast. It is also the site of the Dauki Fault systems. On the basis of zoning maps
Bangladesh has 3 seismic zones Ι, ΙΙ and ΙΙΙ. Zone Ι comprising the maximum danger regions Sylhet and
Mymensingh. Dhaka is located under seismic zone ΙΙ i.e. moderate risk area. Chittagong, Tripura folded belt
experiences frequently earthquakes because of Burmese Arc. Most of the areas included in the moderate rank of
magnitude of 4-6. It is the estimated that Bangladesh may face earthquakes where severe lives and properties
may be damaged (Sattar, 2008). It is believed that the country is neo-tectonically active for being located near the
syntax of three tectonic plates and Himalayan Mountain Building system. The Himalayan range is an extension
of Alpide Seismic Belt and seismically most active zone of Asia. Along this range the Indian plate is sub ducting
below the Eurasian plate in the north. The evidences of geotectonic activates related to this sub-ducting affecting
the morphology of Bangladesh can clearly be postulated from the description given by Bakr (1977) about the
changes or drainage pattern and flows in Brahmanbaria-Noakhali (Tippera Surface). Bakr (1977) describes that
the enlistment of Chandian Deltaic plain in Early Recent Age had badly affected the environment due to gradual
decrease of water supply through the rivers.

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9. Mass Awareness and Recommendation for Handling of Earthquake Disaster
There is lack of awareness not only among the public but also among the decision-makers about the earthquake
hazard in the country. The main reason for this is that excepting the 1918 Srimongal Earthquake, no major
earthquake has affected Bangladesh this country. Earthquake as a natural hazard appears to have been relegated
in relation to the more commonly occurring natural disasters like flood, cyclone and storm surge, river erosion.
This has given rise to sense of complacency with the result that excepting large engineering project, earthquakes
are not usually considered in design and construction. There is therefore, an urgent need for educating the public
and decision-makers about the threat posed by earthquakes in the country.

Earthquake disasters and awareness

Primary awareness Secondary awareness Tertiary awareness

 Don’t move inside the damaged  give foods to injured affected people
buildings  give shelter to affected people
 Save yourself  check the missing people family
 Save family member members/ friends/ elatives
 Call fire service  send/ask medical teams for proper
 Try to live under the tables treatment
 Make sounds so that one comes for help  every corner of the people should come
 utilize NOGS/ volunteers for releasing with help food clothes money etc
of wounded/affected people
 Take injured persons to hospital for
treatment
 Burry the dead ones family
member/friends/relatives
 Look for dead bodies at every corner of
the damaged buildings/houses

Prepare a list of death and injured persons

Give interest free loans for settlement of
farming
Prepare a list of damages of crops of foods
Check so that right person can get their
houses
Prepare a list of damages of building of other
Develop govt. plan for proper civilization of construction
the foreign money under the program
Estimated national/govt. loss
Rebuilding the city with modern themes
Ask for national and international help

NGOs can collect money

Fig. 4. Earthquake disaster and primary, secondary and tertiary awareness guidelines (Sattar, 2009)

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Fig. -3. Seismic Zoning Map of Bangladesh(Hossain and Choudhury 1999

On 23 October 2009, an earthquake awareness conference was held at Dainik Jahan, Mymensingh
Conference Hall where Senior administrative officers (DC, 12 UNOs, CS, etc.), news reporters, engineers
etc. were participated and took part in discussion and Prof. Sattar, Dept. of Environmental Science, BAU,
Mymensingh presented main article on the theme where he broadly outlined 25 awareness
recommendations (Dainik Jahan, 23/10/2009). As Mymensingh is located in risk zone-1 where general
recommendations are listed and they should be properly handled to minimize loss of earthquake disasters.
1. Environmental Science Dept., BAU, Mymensingh must add environmental related graduate course (4
yrs.) where earthquake graduate and post graduate courses should be added,
2. This Dept. should develop disaster laboratory where earthquake training instruments /facilities like soil
tests developing of building codes should be improved /added;
3. This Dept. must handle earthquake related research at Mymensingh zone and other areas of Bangladesh,
4. At greater Mymensingh region, there are 20 million people so here an earthquake observatory tower
should be established (Madhupur forest region ),

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5. The Dept. should develop disasters and earthquake training and awareness man power.
6. Every year, the Dept. should develop at least 1-2 programame for creation of earthquake awareness to
the urban people of Greater Mymensingh region.
7. The municipality Engr. Dept. or DC’s office should develop a strong cell for permission of new
buildings following/maintain of earthquake codes. The cell should also follow the construction works.
8. There should be fire service at every city with skilled personnel and modern instruments for facing the
problems at high-rise buildings.
9. There should be trained volunteer team at every city for saving the people during the disasters and this
can also he done under Upazila/District disaster Dept./Unit/Division.
10. The Dept. of Environmental science, BAU, Mymensingh and the Engr./DC’s office and government
develop guidelines, books, report, bulletins etc. under different projects for public awareness.
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