Aftershock rocks Bangladesh as quake death toll rises to 10
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Residents out in the streets after a building’s railing collapsed during an earthquake in Bangladesh on Nov 21.
PHOTO: EPA
DHAKA – A low-magnitude tremor hit Bangladesh on Nov 22, its national meteorological service said, a day after a powerful earthquake struck outside the capital Dhaka and killed at least 10 people.
Updating earlier tolls from a 5.5-magnitude quake on Nov 21, disaster management official Ishtiaqe Ahmed told AFP news agency that “the number of casualties has reached 10, while a few hundreds were injured”.
The first earthquake was felt in Dhaka and neighbouring districts, causing widespread destruction.
Mr Toriful Newaz Kabir of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department said the 3.3-magnitude jolt on Nov 22 was recorded in the town of Palash, Narsingdi district, 29km from Dhaka.
The meteorological office had earlier said its epicentre was in Ashulia, just north of the capital.
“There was a mistake while analysing the data,” Mr Kabir told AFP, adding that they had revised the epicentre location.
Aftershocks such as this are common after major earthquakes, but, for some in Bangladesh, it has added to fears of an even greater disaster.
“I don’t feel safe yet, as there was another jolt this morning in Ashulia. Maybe we are next,” said Ms Shahnaj Parvin.
The 44-year-old, who lives near the epicentre of Nov 21’s earthquake, told AFP she had never experienced such a tremor.
Cracks have developed in dozens of houses in her area, she said.
“I was hanging my children’s clothes on the washing line when the tremor struck,” added Ms Parvin.
“I held on to a mahogany tree, and, when I returned home, I found my glassware broken.”
The government has activated Bangladesh’s emergency operation centre to assess the scale of the damage, and to coordinate relief and rescue operations.
Mr Rubayet Kabir of the Meteorological Department’s Earthquake Observation and Research Centre said that Bangladesh’s geography makes the country of 170 million people prone to quakes.
“That’s why we experience earthquakes quite frequently, though they are not as strong as the one” on Nov 21, he told AFP.
“Some small tremors are expected after any major earthquake,” Mr Kabir said.
“There has been no massive earthquake in the last 100 years or more, but Bangladesh has been vulnerable for quite some time.” AFP