Any more tremor to cause huge loss of lives

The July 27 earthquake and its aftershocks in Chittagong city and Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) have already left many concrete structures on the verge of near collapse, they said.

Experts, geologists and engineers gathered at the seminar on 'Recent earthquakes in Chittagong and CHT and its effects and initiatives' held at the conference room of Institutions of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB), Chittagong.

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They called on all concerned to follow the 'Building Code' strictly during the construction of any building to reduce the risk of damage or casualties.

They also called for immediate demolition or restructuring of the buildings vulnerable to earthquake damage.

Dr. Jahangir Alam, coordinator of the earthquake research centre of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET), presented the keynote paper.

Referring to his preliminary findings, Dr. Jahangir said that about 30 to 40 per cent buildings of the port city were more or less damaged in the July 27 tremor, but most of the building owners remained silent.

The tremor has exposed the vulnerability of some important city buildings to the quake damage. It is alleged that building code was not followed during the construction of these buildings, he said.

"The divisional public library building, Chittagong Polytechnic Institute and Bangladesh Scientific Research Institute (BSCIR) are among few such buildings," Dr. Jahangir said.

"The offices of these buildings should be relocated and people there be shifted immediately to avert large-scale casualties."

Chairman of IEB, Chittagong, M Shahjahan, Dr. Shahidul Islam of geography department of Chittagong University, Honorary Secretary of IEB Abul Kashem and engineer Delwar Hossain also spoke. Engineer Khairul Mostafa presided.