THE region has been again struck by another devastating quake that seems to be visiting it with disturbing regularity. Our sympathy goes out to people of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan that have suffered due to this terrible tragedy. This is the time to gear up all the resources and efforts on a regional basis and come to the help of the quake-stricken people of the region.

Not unexpectedly, some parts of Bangladesh also felt the jolt to a lesser degree though, and were thankfully spared loss to life or property. Bangladesh is sitting on a very dangerously poised tectonic fault that makes it very susceptible to earthquakes, and experts suggest that a jolt of severe intensity is perhaps a matter of time. In fact according to experts the major Assam quake of 1897 that is likely to be repeated every hundred years, would seem somewhere around the corner, though we hope that it never happens.

We have noticed seminars and conferences, workshops and expert committee meetings being organised in the wake of an earthquake of which there were several in the last few years. But what emerges from these exercises is the fact that we are grossly unprotected and under-prepared against an earthquake of severe magnitude. Reportedly, between sixty and ninety percent of the buildings in Dhaka metropolis is vulnerable to collapse. Yet the government reaction is so markedly absent as to suggest a deliberate attempt on its part to keep its eyes closed to the matter.

According to experts, lethality of earthquakes will increase in the future by a factor of thirty in developing countries due, among other things, to non-compliance with building and land-use code and the poor quality of construction? The question is: are we prepared for the worst? Is the government aware of the need to reduce our seismic safety risk? Even at the risk of sounding highly pessimistic the answer has to be an emphatic NO!

The government should take serious note of disaster potential of an earthquake of a severe magnitude. We feel that there is an urgent need for constituting a task force that will, apart from suggesting ways of strengthening the seismic monitoring system, identify the vulnerable structures and prescribe actions to reduce the risks. Keeping a constant tab on geo-structural movements and ensuring compliance with an updated building and land-use code are what matter most.