Risk of Earthquake, Tsunami and Storm Surge in Bangladesh and Mitigatory Measures

by

Professor Jamilur Reza Choudhury
President, Bangladesh Earthquake Society, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. Although it is vulnerable to a wide variety of natural hazards, viz. flood, cyclone and storm surge, tornado, drought, riverbank erosion, landslide and earthquake, most of the recent disasters have been caused by floods, cyclones and the accompanying storm surge. The low incidence of severe earthquakes during the last hundred years has led to a situation where most of the population and the policy-makers do not perceive seismic risks to be important. However, due to increasing number of bridges, buildings and industrial structures being built during the last two decades, assessment of seismicity of different regions in the country is receiving considerable attention of engineers, scientists, government agencies and NGOs. A number of studies have been undertaken and seismic zoning maps have been prepared. An outline of a code for earthquake resistant design was prepared in 1979 (GSB, 1979). A new seismic zoning map and detailed seismic design provisions have been incorporated in the Bangladesh National Building Code (HBRI-BSTI, 1993).

Download the complete article here.

Association of Bangladeshi Engineers of Ontario (ABEO), Canada. has been serving it’s members which was founded in June 1996.

The vision is to provide professional support and guide its members to upgrade professional skills, exchange technical information, improve networking and creative activities and promote recreation and social interactions among its members, we will work with communities at a local, national and global level that share our vision