Bangladesh has found itself subtly swaying under the tremors of not one but two earthquakes as the year began.
Though the seismic origins lay beyond its borders, the echoes were keenly felt in Dhaka and beyond, raising questions about the geophysical theatre in which this South Asian nation finds itself unwittingly cast.
The first tremor on 3 January originated from Homalin, Myanmar, a location 482 kilometres from Dhaka.
Richter scale clocked this event at a moderate magnitude of 5.
The second, more formidable jolt arrived on 7 January, with its epicentre in Tibet, China, a more distant 618 kilometres away, yet measured a robust 7.1.
Felt across India, Nepal and Bangladesh, these tremors were not mere localised ripples but a part of a larger geodynamic activity.
A tectonic play
Bangladesh, nestled at the confluence of the Indian Plate, the Eurasian Plate, and the Burma Microplate, sits perilously close to the seismically active Himalayan belt.
The tectonic plates, massive slabs of Earth's lithosphere, move and occasionally collide with tectonic grace or fury.
The stress accumulation and release along these plate boundaries manifest as earthquakes, with varying degrees of impact depending on the energy released and proximity to human settlements.
Distance doesn't matter
Bangladesh Meteorological Department's Seismic Observation and Research Centre states that the seismic events of recent days, though remotely initiated, were potent enough to be perceptible in Bangladesh.
Geographical vastness between the epicentres and the sites of perceptible impact underscores the ferocity of these events, especially the second quake from Zhejiang, which extended its seismic influence across multiple nations.
Areas from which these earthquakes originated are no strangers to seismic activity.
The collision of the Indian Plate against the Eurasian Plate along the Himalayan frontier is a geological saga of monumental proportions.
Such regions, inherently earthquake-prone due to their structural features, frequently experience seismic disturbances.
These are not isolated incidents but episodes in the continual narrative of plate tectonics – a narrative that has shaped and reshaped the Earth's surface over millennia.
Preparedness is paramount
While the recent quakes caused no discernible damage in Bangladesh, their occurrence serves as a stark reminder of the underlying seismic vulnerability.
According to the BMD, these distant yet impactful tremors highlight the need for a comprehensive understanding of regional tectonics and proactive disaster preparedness strategies.
