What message does the earthquake in Turkey give us

Turkish ruins । File Imge

However, it is more important to be aware of earthquakes than to panic about them. Adhering to proper building codes while constructing a building is important, especially knowing what to do to avoid earthquake damage.

The surface of the earth is called the crust. When the rocks are suddenly displaced along a crack (fault) in this earth's surface, the shaking that occurs on the earth's surface is called an earthquake. Earthquakes create new cracks or activate existing cracks. Usually the stored energy is more prone to release through existing cracks. The smaller the crack length, the smaller the amount of displacement. But if it is bigger the amount of displacement will be more. So naturally the magnitude of the earthquake will be higher.

Then the displacement of the rock requires tremendous force in the earth's interior. Over a long period of time this energy is stored in the crust in an ongoing process. When this force exceeds the tolerable level of crustal rocks, new cracks are formed or old cracks are activated. It tries to get out through the cracks. And that's when the earthquake happened. The greater the amount of stored energy, the greater the magnitude of the earthquake. The accumulation of this energy in the crust depends on time and plate motion. Less energy in the short term and more energy in the long term is stored in the crust. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, mountain formations—these are all done by tectonic plates.

Bangladesh is located at the junction of three tectonic plates. To the west and southwest is the India plate, to the north is the Tibet subplate, and to the east and southeast is the Burma subplate. The connection of the India and Burma plates passes through Bangladesh into the Bay of Bengal. The eastern part belongs to the Burma plate and the western part to the Indian plate. The Shillong Plateau is a small plate within the India plate. It is moving south slowly. Bangladesh is an earthquake-prone area due to its geological structure and tectonic structure. Especially Dhaka, Sylhet, Chittagong and Chittagong Hill Tracts are at risk of earthquakes.

By analyzing the geological and tectonic structure of Bangladesh and neighboring countries, it can be assumed that there have been severe earthquakes in the region in the distant and recent past. There are geological faults in the interior and surrounding areas (to the north and east) of Bangladesh. The eastern mountainous region is a subduction zone, where the Indian plate is subducting beneath the Burma plate. These geological faults and subduction zones are accumulating huge amounts of energy due to the reciprocating motion of the plates. Subduction zones and faults have caused major earthquakes in the past 400 years. Along with the loss of life and property, the course of the Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers has changed. Earthquakes from subduction zones are the most dangerous. The populous city of Dhaka lies within 50–200 km of the two main active sources of earthquakes, the Dyke fault to the north and the Indo-Burma subduction zone to the east.

In 2010, a terrible earthquake in Haiti killed 230,000 people and destroyed property. After only one and a half months, 525 people died in a terrible earthquake in Chile. In 2015, an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 in Nepal killed 9 thousand people and damaged a large amount of property. 6 people died in Bangladesh due to earthquake in Nepal, 700 km away. The magnitude of the earthquake in Haiti was 7 on the Richter scale. And Chile's earthquake magnitude was 8.8.

There are many other reasons for such discussions. In 1897, an earthquake of magnitude 8.4 on the Dowkey fault killed 1,626 people. The number of deaths cannot be estimated from the damage caused by the earthquake. Because, at that time population density and settlement was very less. But that earthquake hit the whole of India and caused damage. If an earthquake of the same magnitude is present in the capital Dhaka or its surroundings, one cannot help but be terrified by imagining the terrible damage. Because there are not only old but very old buildings in Dhaka city and many people are living in those buildings at risk.

Due to Chile's earthquake damage and death toll being lower than Haiti and Nepal, Chilean buildings are more durable. In addition, Haiti is more densely populated than Chile, so the death toll is much higher. The socio-economic condition of Chile is much better than that of Bangladesh. Therefore, there is no way to understand what the amount of damage will be in Bangladesh in an earthquake of the same magnitude compared to Chile.

Therefore, to keep earthquake damage to a minimum level, public awareness should be developed. The government has to play the main responsibility in this regard, so that the potential damage is kept to a minimum level. From the beginning to the end of the construction of a building, the concerned person or organization must be strictly monitored to see if all the rules are followed or not.

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