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Feeling the tremor

13 April 2005, 18:00 PM
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
By Saif, Dhaka
13 April 2005, 18:00 PM
It was a fine morning just like other days. We were attending the class of our training programme in Kaptai. All of a sudden, I felt a vibration in the floor (a distinct vertical, up and down movement) and also saw the projector screen moving abruptly. I could sense what was happening but my brain seemed not to work. As soon as a friend uttered the word 'tremor', we, the 28 trainees, and the trainer frantically rushed out of the class.

According to news reports, it was a "mild tremor" of only 3.8 on Richter Scale. However, the 'mild tremor' shook my belief about our preparedness against any kind of earthquake. This is a kind of a phenomenon which has always been neglected. Due to geographical location we are living with the reality that it is a matter of when rather than if for us.

I knew what to do during a quake. But I forgot everything and acted foolishly just like others. In the event of a major earthquake (God forbid) what will happen to the closely packed buildings and the people who do not have any idea about it. I wonder how effective will be our ancient infrastructure and technology to predict a tremor while it cannot yet properly locate the epicentre of a quake.

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Some effective steps should be taken to minimise damage and also a comprehensive awareness programme should be launched. The devastation that a tremor can cause is beyond our imagination. We better do something fast.

Is there anyone listening?