'1,37,000 to die in Ctg if major earthquake hits Bangladesh-Myanmar border’

"Around 137,000 people will die and 168,000 buildings will collapse in Chattogram city if a 7.5 to 8.5 magnitude earthquake hits the Bangladesh-Myanmar border," said Prof Md Jahangir Alam, vice chancellor of University of Science & Technology Chattogram (USTC), today.

"The seismic activity of Bangladesh has shown an earthquake of even medium magnitude on Richter scale can produce a mass graveyard in major cities of the country, particularly Dhaka, Sylhet, and Chattogram," said Jahangir, also the former VC of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) at a seminar held at USTC today, reports our Bandarban correspondent.

"Chattogram city has the sea main port of the country along with the economic and cultural centre of Bangladesh and there must be an organised effort to protect the city and its people," mentioned the keynote paper in the workshop.

The population in Chattogram has grown from around 0.35 million in the mid-1960s to more than 4.5 million today, mentioned in the keynote paper.

Many of the city's approximately 200,000 buildings do not conform to Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) standard, the paper read.

Seismic experts said frequent light tremors signal that a powerful one is coming soon -- a matter of concern for all.