Earthquakes in Dhaka Bangladesh on 10 September 2010 Night

It is now 11:40 PM on 10 September 2010 in Dhaka Bangladesh. In the last one hour, two earthquakes hit the city and most probably most parts of the country. The first one was mild and it on around 10:30-40 PM Dhaka Time. I did not touch it but Mehdi (another blogger of this blog) touched it and called me. The second one was massive and it was perhaps the strongest earthquake that I felt in my life. The second quake was felt on 11:25 PM.

I was sitting in a chair. The chair was shaking, the table and the computer monitor were shaking. It was really a scary feeling and I cannot think of any other time in my life similar to it. I remembered God and I think that many people here did the same.

Tomorrow is Eid-ul-Fitar and it is the largest celebration in the country. So, Dhaka is much quiet and empty tonight. All the newspaper offices are closed. People got scared and many of them called newspaper offices and wanted to know about the condition.

After both the earthquakes happened, I took a look at the Bangladeshi community blogs and found in Somewherein Blog at least 20 posts about the earthquake. I am now watching the Bangladeshi TV channels and they are also giving the news as news flash.

What I can find is the earthquakes hit not only Bangladesh but a wide area of the world.

For some more information, visit this link: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/dyfi/events/us/2010baa1/us/index.html

So, pray for us and hopefully, we remain safe from any earthquake in Bangladesh. The worst part is that Dhaka is perhaps the most crowded city in the world and any strong earthquake can claim thousands of lives. 

Nepal: Earthquake can Destroy much of Kathmandu

Kathmandu is the capital city of Nepal and the city along with its surrounding areas has a population of over 1.5 million. Most of the people are poor and when they construct any house, they cannot afford to think much about making them earthquake resistant. Even the rich people don’t bother much about it. Well, according to some experts on earthquakes, Kathmandu is in serious risk and if a earthquake in the magnitude of 6 or 7 strikes the capital city then hundreds of buildings will get destroyed and thousands of people will die. The economic and human consequence will be catastrophic indeed.

Nepalese government is pretty much helpless to fight this looming danger. The government doesn’t have enough funds to do anything significant. Ordinary people have to realize the magnitude of the crisis.

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Earthquake in Eid Day in Bangladesh

It happened 5 minutes before 4 PM. I was sitting in my PC and suddenly, my chair started to tremble. My whole body was shaking too. Naturally, I became afraid because this time, I touched the earthquake very clearly. I heard that some people became afraid and they went out to the street. Well, I stayed in home. Then I checked some Bangla blogs and also Bdnews.com and become sure that it was indeed an earthquake in Eid Day in Bangladesh.
Also read: Earthquakes in Dhaka Bangladesh on 10 September 2010 Night

Today is Eid ur Fitr or Ramjan Eid in popular term. It is the biggest festival for the Muslims of Bangladesh. In the last months, several earthquakes took place in Bangladesh but all of them are after midnight. So, most people were asleep and did not touch them. However, this time, it happened at noon and almost everyone touched. It is clear to everyone that big cities like Dhaka and Chittagong are ill equipped to fight against a powerful earthquake. I am in my mid 30s and I cannot remember of any year with so many earthquakes in Dhaka in the same year.

You can read some more in Bdnews here: 'Big' tremor jolts Dhaka

By the way, there is some news that the quake was felt in some other districts of the country too. 

Bangladesh: Earthquake Felt Again in Dhaka

I think that it was 4:45 Bangladesh Standard (Daylight Saving) Time (GMT+7) and an earthquake again happened. It is very late at night and most people are sleeping. Last night, another earthquake hit and it originated in the Andaman Sea. Tonight, I felt the quake only for 5-6 seconds but I felt it more strongly compared to last night. I was sitting in my chair and table and it moved a bit. In my life, I cannot remember the experiences of many earthquakes. What I can say is that I felt most strongly tonight.

Also read: Earthquakes in Dhaka Bangladesh on 10 September 2010 Night

I am sure now that it was an earthquake as I can find confirmation in the website: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/dyfi/events/us/2009keby/us/index.html

It originated in the border of India and Myanmar. It was an earthquake of magnitude of 5.4. So, it was milder compared to that of last night. That is why, I am some confused that why I became more afraid tonight. The only thing that I wish is that in my city, people can come to their good senses and become conscious about the possible damage a powerful earthquake can cause to a densely populated city like Dhaka.

Tsunami Watch 2009: Let us Hope for the Best

Just 100 minutes ago from now, I experienced an earth quake in my house in Dhaka, Bangladesh. I think that it was almost 3 AM at night on 11 August 2009. I was working in my PC and suddenly, my chair started to shake. At first, I thought that may be my health was some tired after a long day work and that is why, I felt that day. Then, my co-blogger of this blog, Mehdi Hassan told me that an earthquake was happening and I also realized it. It continued for almost half a minute I guess. It was surely a scary experience for me as I live in an apartment situated in the fourth floor. I turned on local TV channels and could not find any news. Then I browsed two Bangladeshi community blog sites and I found that many people had the same experience like me.

Then, I started browsing Google News and gradually could find some updates about the earth quake. What I realized is that two earthquakes took place in Asia tonight. One took place in Japan and you can read some more about it here: Magnitude-6.6 Earthquake Hits off Japan; Tsunami Strikes Coast

Another one struck near the Andaman: Tsunami watch issued after Indian Ocean quake

I think that the earthquake that originated in the Andaman Sea came here and we touched it. Thanks God that nothing happened in my city Dhaka. It is still too early to know about the possible devastations that the earthquake might have caused. After few hours, things should get clear.

Unfortunately, Dhaka is perhaps the most densely populated city on earth and there is almost no preparation for an earthquake. We are perhaps on the mercy of God and nature. I think that it is time that Bangladeshi decision makers take this matter very seriously. Of course, common people have to become conscious about it too. I think that the media can play an important role in this regard.

I could find some more updates in different websites and I am quoting from some of their reports:

Reuters reported:

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake, initially reported as a magnitude 7.7, struck at 1:55 a.m. (8:05 p.m. British time on Monday). It was shallow, at a depth of 20.6 miles (33 km), and was centred 160 miles (260 km) north of Port Blair.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a tsunami watch for the region.

"Earthquakes of this size have the potential to generate a destructive local tsunami and sometimes a destructive regional tsunami along coasts located usually no more than a thousand kilometres (about 600 miles) from the earthquake epicentre," the tsunami centre said in its bulletin.

RTE News wrote:

The Andaman Islands were badly hit by the 2004 Asian tsunami, which was caused by an earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra and sent giant waves crashing into countries around the Indian Ocean.

Elsewhere, a strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.6 has hit eastern and central Japan and rattled houses in Tokyo.

The quake, which struck at 5.07am (9.07pm Irish time), prompted a tsunami warning for waves of up to 50cm for parts of the Pacific coast, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

Sky News wrote:

Around 22 minutes later, a second earthquake, measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale, jolted eastern and central Japan.

Houses in the capital Tokyo were rattled by the quake and food and bottles were thrown from shop shelves.

Some roads were closed after electric signboards stopped working, at least one train line was halted and a nuclear power station in Hamaoka closed two units for safety checks.

Canberra Times wrote:

The alert singled out parts of India, including the Andaman Islands, Port Blair, Great Nicobar, Kainada and Baleshwar, to be the first to be potentially affected by any tsunami the quake generated.

The Pyinkayaing, Cheduba Island, Sittwe, Mergui and Yangon regions of Burma were listed as at risk.

Banda Aceh in Indonesia - the same region devastated by a tsunami in 2004 - was singled out, as was Chittagong in Bangladesh.

Is this an indication that another Tsunami may hit East Asia and South Asia in 2009? I hope that it does not happen. What is so worrying is the matter that two earthquakes took place at the same night. Tsunami stroke Asia in 2004 and caused massive death and destruction to South Asia and South East Asia. In 2004, luckily, it did not touch my own country Bangladesh.