Swapan Kumar Singh :

A 5.7-magnitude earthquake shook Dhaka and surrounding areas on Friday at 10:38 am. The epicenter was near Madhabdi in Narsingdi, about 13 kilometers east of Dhaka. The tremor, which lasted around 20 seconds, caused panic across the capital and nearby districts. So far, six people have died and hundreds have been injured as ceilings, walls, and railings collapsed.

In Dhaka’s Armanitola area, three people were killed when a building railing fell. Two others died in Narsingdi while rushing down from tall buildings in panic. In Narayanganj’s Rupganj area, a one-year-old child was killed when a wall collapsed. Many injured were taken to local hospitals and some to major hospitals in Dhaka for treatment.

Earthquake expert Professor Mehedi Ahmed Ansari said this tremor could be a “foreshock” of a larger earthquake. Historical data shows major earthquakes occur in Bangladesh roughly every 100 to 250 years. He warned that many of Dhaka’s 2.1 million buildings were not built according to safety codes, posing serious future risks.

Rubaiyat Kabir, head of the Earthquake Monitoring Center at the Department of Meteorology, said Bangladesh sits at the junction of the Indian and Eurasian plates. Active fault lines make the region prone to earthquakes. Aftershocks are possible, though none have been reported so far.

Experts urged authorities to identify vulnerable buildings, enforce building codes, and carry out emergency repairs, while advising residents to stay alert.