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Lecture note of Sourav Ray

Shahjalal UniverSity of Science and technology


Department of CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL EnginEEring

Lecture on

CEE 385

EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING

Engr. Sourav ray

Lecturer

Dept. of Civil & environmental engineering, SUSt

Email: sourav.cEEsust@gmail.com

Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, SUST


Lecture note of Sourav Ray

LECTURE FOUR & FIVE

Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, SUST


Lecture note of Sourav Ray

Faults
The term fault is used to describe a discontinuity within rock mass,
along which movement had happened in the past. Plate boundary is also
a type of fault.
Faults represent pre-existing zones of weakness in the earth‟s curst,
zones along which movement will tend to be accommodated.
Or when two groundmasses move with respect to one another, elastic
strain energy due to tectonic processes is stored and then released
through the rupture of the interface zone.
The resulting fracture in the Earth‟s crust is termed a „fault‟.
Movement along a fault may be gradual or sometimes sudden thus,
generating an earthquake.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, SUST


Lecture note of Sourav Ray

There are two important parameters associated with describing faults,


namely, dip and strike, see figure below.
The strike is the direction of a horizontal line on the surface of the fault.
The dip, measured in a vertical plane at right angles to the strike of the
fault, is the angle of fault plane with horizontal.

The hanging wall of a fault refers to the upper rock surface along which
displacement has occurred, whereas the foot wall is the term given to
that below.

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Lecture note of Sourav Ray

Classification:
Faults are classified according to their sense of motion.
1. Dip-Slip Faults: In a dip-slip fault, the slippage occurred along the
dip of the fault, Figure – (a) and (b).
a) Normal Fault- In a normal fault, the block above the fault moves
down relative to the block below the fault (Fig 4.7).
This fault motion is caused by tensional forces and results in extension.
[Other names: normal-slip fault, tensional fault or gravity fault]

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b) Reverse Fault - In a reverse fault, the block above the fault moves
up relative to the block below the fault (Fig 4.8).
This fault motion is caused by compressional forces and results in
shortening.
A reverse fault is called a thrust fault if the dip of the fault plane is
small. [Other names: thrust fault, reverse-slip fault or compressional
fault]

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2. Strike-Slip Fault
In a strike-slip fault, the movement of blocks along a fault is horizontal.

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The fault motion of a strike-slip fault is caused by shearing forces.


[Other names: transcurrent fault, lateral fault, tear fault or wrench fault]

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Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, SUST


Lecture note of Sourav Ray

3. Oblique-Slip Fault
Oblique-slip faulting suggests both dip-slip faulting and strike-slip
faulting (Fig 4.10).
It is caused by a combination of shearing and tension of compressional
forces.

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Lecture note of Sourav Ray

Blind or hidden faults


When the faulting does not appear at the surface, the seismic source is
termed as blind fault.

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Active and inactive faults


Inactive faults – slip no longer occurs in these faults plotted on
geological maps.
The last displacement to occur along a typical fault may have taken
place ten of thousands or even millions of years ago.
The local disruptive forces in the earth nearby may have subsided long
ago, and chemical processes involving water movement may have
cemented the ruptures, particularly at shallow depth.
Active faults – faults along which crustal displacements can be expected
to occur.
Many of these faults are in rather well-defined tectonically active
regions of the Earth, such as the mid oceanic ridges and young mountain
ranges.
Elastic Rebound theory
As the plate try to move relative to each other, strain energy gets built up
along the boundaries.
When the stress build up reaches the ultimate strength of rock, rock
fractures and releases the accumulated strain energy, Figure 1.13.
If the material is very ductile and weak, hardly any strain energy could
be stored in the plates due to their movement. But if the material is
strong and brittle, the stress built up and subsequent sudden rupture
releases the energy stored in the form of stress waves and heat. The
propagation of these elastic stress waves causes the vibratory motion
associated with earthquakes.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, SUST


Lecture note of Sourav Ray

Earthquake history

Largest earthquakes by magnitude


Pos. Date Location Magnitude

1 May 22, 1960 Valdivia, Chile 9.5

2 December 26, 2004 Off west coast northern Sumatra, Indonesia 9.3

3 October 16, 1737 Kamchatka, Russia ~9.3

3 March 27, 1964 Prince William Sound, Alaska, USA 9.2

5 November 4, 1952 Kamchatka, Russia 9.0

6 January 26, 1700 Cascadia subduction zone ~9

7 January 31, 1906 Colombia-Ecuador 8.8

8 February 4, 1965 Rat Islands, Alaska, USA 8.7

8 November 25, 1833 Sumatra, Indonesia 8.7

10 November 1, 1755 Lisbon, Portugal ~8.7

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11 March 28, 2005 Sumatra, Indonesia 8.6-8.7*

12 March 9, 1957 Andreanof Islands, Alaska, USA 8.6

12 December 16, 1920 Ningxia-Gansu, China 8.6

12 August 15, 1950 Assam-Tibet 8.6

15 December 16, 1575 Valdivia, Chile 8.5

15 September 12, 2007 Sumatra, Indonesia 8.5

Deadliest earthquakes on record


Rank Name Date Location Fatalities Magnitude Comments

January 23,
1 "Shaanxi" Shaanxi, China 830,000 8.0
1556

July 27, Tangshan, 255,000 Estimated death


2 "Tangshan" 7.5
1976 China (official) toll as high as

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655,000.

Off West coast


~230,210 Deaths from
"Indian December of Northern
3 dead and 9.3 earthquake and
Ocean" 26, 2004 Sumatra,
missing tsunami.
Indonesia

Death toll
disputed as first
October mention of
4 "Aleppo" Aleppo, Syria 230,000 8.5
11, 1138 230,000 dead was
in the 15th
century.

December
"Damghan" Damghan, Iran 200,000
22, 856
5
December Ningxia-Gansu, 200,000 - Major fractures,
"Gansu" 7.8 or 8.5
16, 1920 China 240,000 landslides.

March 23,
7 "Ardabil" Ardabil, Iran 150,000
893+

"Great September Kantō region,


8 143,000 7.9 Great Tokyo fire.
Kantō" 1, 1923 Japan

October 6, Ashgabat,
9 "Ashgabat" 110,000 7.3
1948 Turkmenistan

100,000
India & 3.5 million people
October 8, (estimated),
10 "Kashmir" N.W.F.P, 7.6 or 7.8 homeless, 100,000
2005 80,000
Pakistan feared dead
(official)

Source: USGS

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Lecture note of Sourav Ray

Earthquake in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the most earthquake prone countries in the world. Specialists
are expecting a severe earthquake in this area in near future, which will cause a
serious human casualty, damages of infrastructure and other losses.
Although Bangladesh is extremely vulnerable to seismic activity, the nature and
the level of this activity is yet to be defined. In Bangladesh complete earthquake
monitoring facilities are not available. The Meteorological Department of
Bangladesh established a seismic observatory at Chittagong in 1954. This remains
the only observatory in the country.

Seismic sources
Since the whole Indian subcontinent is situated on the junction of Indo- Australian
plate and Eurasian plate, the tectonic evaluation of Bangladesh can be explained as
a result of collision of the north moving Indo- Australian plate with the Eurasian
plate.

Figure- 1: Tectonic plates

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Besides, there are several fault zones active in this junction area, which are the
sources of earthquake. Four major sources of earthquakes in and around
Bangladesh were identified by Bolt (1987): i) Assam fault zone ii) Tripura fault
zone iii) Sub Dauki fault zone and iv) Bogra fault zone. Our study area Sylhet is
situated in the Sub Dauki fault zone. The magnitudes of earthquake suggested by
Bolt are given in the table 1 and the fault zones are shown in the figure 2.
Table 1: Seismic sources
Probable magnitude in Bangladesh (in
Location
Richter scale)

Assam fault zone 8.0

Tripura fault zone 7.0

Sub Dauki fault zone 7.3

Bogra fault zone 7.0

Source: Bolt (1987)

Status of earthquakes

I n t h e ge n e ra l i s e d t e c t o n i c ma p o f Ba n g l a d e s h t he distribution of
epicentres is found to be linear along the D a uk i Fa u l t s ys t e m a n d ra n d o m
i n o t he r re g i o n s o f B a n g l a d e s h .

The investigation of the m a p demonstrates that the


epicentres are lying in the weakzones comprising surface or subsurface faults.

Most of the events are of moderate rank (magnitude 4-6) and lie at a shallow depth,
which suggests that the recent mo v e me n t s o c c u r re d i n t h e sediments
o ve r l y i n g t h e basement rocks.

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Lecture note of Sourav Ray

Earthquake history

Reliable historical data for seismic activity affecting Bangladesh is available only
for the last 450 years (Gupta et al., 1982). Recently developed earthquake
catalogue for Bangladesh and surrounding area (Sharfuddin, 2001) shows 765
earthquakes with Ms≥4.0 have occurred from 1865 to 1999 within a 300 km radius
of Sylhet City. Among these, there are 28 earthquakes with Ms≥6.0.
Before the coming of the Europeans, there was no definite record of earthquakes.
Following (Table-2) is a chronology of important earthquakes from 1548.

Table - 2: List of the major earthquakes in Bangladesh


1548 The first recorded earthquake was a terrible one. Sylhet and
Chittagong were violently shaken, the earth opened in many places

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and threw up water and mud of a sulphurous smell.

1642 More severe damage occurred in Sylhet district. Buildings were


cracked but there was no loss of life.

1663 Severe earthquake in ASSAM, which continued for half an hour and
Sylhet district was not free from its shock.

1762 The great earthquake of April 2, which raised the coast of Foul
island by 2.74m and the northwest coast of Chedua island by 6.71m
above sea level and also caused a permanent submergence of 155.40
sq km near Chittagong. The earthquake proved very violent in Dhaka
and along the eastern bank of the MEGHNA as far as Chittagong. In
Dhaka 500 persons lost their lives, the RIVERs and JHEELs were
agitated and rose high above their usual levels and when they
receded their banks were strewn with dead fish. A large river dried
up, a tract of land sank and 200 people with all their CATTLE were
lost. Two volcanoes were said to have opened in the Sitakunda hills.

1775 Severe earthquake in Dhaka around April 10, but no loss of life.

May 11 Severe earthquake in many places of Bangladesh around May 11.


The earthquake proved violent in Sylhet
1812

winter 1865 Terrible shock was felt, during the second earthquake occurred in the
winter of 1865, although no serious damage occurred.

10 Jan The Cachar earthquake of 10th Jan. 1869 occurred at 5 hr (GMT) is


the first and one of the most destructive seismic events that northeast
1869
of Indo-Bangladesh experienced in the last two centuries. According
to the seismic history of the region this zone has been the site of high
seismic status due to Dauki fault. The main shock was strong enough
Cachar to cause the collapse of many local traditional dwellings in shilchar,
earthquake Monipur and upper Burma region. In Bangladesh, major damage
occurred only in eastern part of the Sylhet district. The steeple of the

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church was shattered, the walls of the courthouse and the circuit
bungalow cracked and in the eastern part of the district the banks of
many rivers caved in. The tremor was felt all over the country. The
magnitude is estimated to be 7.5 in the Richter scale. The earthquake
is classified as a heavy destruction event with a focal depth of about
56-Km. Epicenter distance from Dhaka was 250 km. The isoseismal
map of this earthquake is shown in Fig. 7.

14 July There were no seismographic records available for the Bengal


earthquake of 1885. Only the felt reports and observed damage to
1885
buildings, boundary walls, factory chimney, tomb, cemetery, tower
like octagonal mandirs with conical apex, earth fissures and vents
were described in the report on the Bengal earthquake by
Bengal Middlemiss (1885). According to the report this earthquake was felt
Earthquake
with violence throughout the Bengal province. The extent of felt
areas extended westward into Chota Nagpur and Bihar northward
into Shikim and Bhutan, and eastward into Assam, Monipur and
Burma. This earthquake caused considerable damages in Sirajgong-
Bogra region and perhaps more severe damages in Jamalpur-
Sherpur-Mymensing region. The magnitude is estimated to be 7.0 in
the Richter scale. As part of the studies for the design of Jamuna
multipurpose bridge, a thorough analysis of this earthquake was
made by Prof. Bolt of university of California, Berkeley, USA. He
concluded that the epicenter was perhaps near the Bogra fault (24.8
N, 89.5  E) and not near Manikgong as originally determined by
middlemiss in 1885. Epicenter distance from Dhaka was 170 km.
10 January Occurred on 10 January with 7.5 magnitude and the epicentre at
1889 Jaintia Hills. It affected Sylhet town and surrounding areas.

12 June Known as the Great India Earthquake with a magnitude of 8.7 and
epicentre at Shillong Plateau. The great earthquake occurred on 12
1897
June at 5.15 pm, caused serious damage to masonry buildings in
Sylhet town where the death toll rose to 545. This was due to the
collapse of the masonry buildings. The area over which the shock
Great

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Indian was felt amounted to not less than 31,20,000 Sq. Km. The tremor
Earthquake was felt throughout Bengal, from the south Lushai Hills on the east
to Shahbad on the west. In Mymensingh, many public buildings of
the district town, including the Justice House, were wrecked and
very few of the two-storied brick-built houses belonging to
ZAMINDARs survived. Heavy damage was done to the bridges on the
Dhaka-Mymensingh railway and traffic was suspended for about a
fortnight. The river communication of the district was seriously
affected (BRAHMAPUTRA). A total of 1542 persons were killed out of
which 545 persons were killed in Sylhet district. Loss of life was not
great, but loss of property was estimated at five million Rupees.
Rajshahi suffered severe shocks, especially on the eastern side, and
15 persons died. In Dhaka damage to property was heavy. In Tippera
masonry buildings and old temples suffered a lot and the total
damage was estimated at Rs 9,000. Epicenter distance from Dhaka
was 230 km. The isoseismal map of great Indian earthquake is
shown in Fig. 8.
18 July Occurred on 18 July with a magnitude of 7.6. The epicenter of the
earthquake was located at the Balisera Valley and part of the Doloi
1918
valley of Srimangal, Maulvi Bazar. The greatest damage occurred in
tee garden areas of the Balisera, Doly and Luskerpur valleys. With
few exceptions, all brick buildings were found to be destroyed within
Srimangal this area. Water and sand spouted up to a height of several feet and
Earthquake numerous vents occurred in the ground in various places. Intense
damages occurred in Srimangal but due to shallow focal depth, the
intensity rapidly decreased and in Dhaka only minor effect was
observed. Epicenter distance from Dhaka was 150 km.

3 July 1930 Occurred on 3 July with a magnitude of 7.1 and the epicentre at
Dhubri, Assam. The earthquake caused major damage in the eastern
parts of Rangpur district. Epicenter distance from Dhaka was 250
Dhubri km.
Earthquake

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15 January The magnitude of this earthquake was 8.3 in the Richter scale and
1934 the epicenter was in the north of Darbhanga in Bihar. The area of
greatest devastation was in north Bihar and Nepal, but the damage
gradually diminished into adjacent province. The shock was felt by
Bihar-Nepal Persians over a distance of up to 1600 Km. It was felt over an area of
Earthquake. approximately 4920000 Sq. Km in India And Tibet. The earthquake
affected the three main geological units of India- the Peninsula, the
Gangetic alluvium and the Himalaya (Dunn et al, 1934). It did not
affect any part of Bangladesh. Epicenter distance from Dhaka was
510 km.

15 August This earthquake was one of the severest earthquakes of the world. Its
1950 epicenter was in the Arunachal pradesh, northeast of Assam. The
tremor was felt throughout Bangladesh but no damage was reported
from anywhere. The magnitude was 8.5 in the Richter scale
Assam (Choudhury, 2002).Epicenter distance from Dhaka was 780 km.
Earthquake

November Occurred on 22 November in Chittagong with a magnitude of 6.0. It


21 caused minor damage around Chittagong town. During this
earthquake, 23 people were killed after collapse of an under
1997
construction building in Chittagong. In chittagong may low to
middle rise buildings have suffered minor cracks although major
damage has not been observed. The epicenter area (22.225 N,
Chittagong 92.7431 E) is close to Ruma in Bandarban district of Chittagong Hill
Earthquake Tracts region. Epicenter distance from Dhaka was 264 km.

May 8 In 1997 a damaging earthquake of body-wave magnitude 5.6 have


occurred in Bangladesh. It has taken place in early morning of May
1997
8. It caused moderate damage only in Sylhet area, northeast of
capital Dhaka and about 200 Km away. The epicenter location
(24.894N, 92.250E) is close to Kanaighat, a small town in Sylhet
Sylhet
region. Extensive damage to brick masonry structures (e.g. police
Earthquake station, Jainta College, etc.) and cracking of number of buildings
(e.g. Sylhet Air Port Building, Grameen Bank Building at bordal,

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police station at moulvibazar, etc) in the epicentral region have


occurred and even in the Dhaka city minor cracks is observed in
some structures. Epicenter distance from Dhaka was 210 km.

July 22 1999 Occurred on 22 July at 4.45 p.m. at Maheshkhali Island of Cox;s


Bazar with the epicentre in the same place, a magnitude of 5.2.
Epicenter distance from Dhaka was 300 km. Severely felt around
Maheshkhali island and the adjoining SEA. Houses cracked and in
some cases collapsed killing 6 people and injuring 200 people. The
main damage has been reported to be in Shaplapur and Huanok
unions. Cracking and spalling in reinforced concrete column at the
beam-column joint of a cyclone center at Dineshpur of Shaplapur
was observed. Several rural houses with mud walls and thatched or
tin roof construction have been severely damage.

July 27 2003 This earthquake triggered at 05:17:27 hrs Bangladesh time on July
27, 2003 with a magnitude of 5.1, its epicenter was located at
Kolabunia village of Borkol thana under Rangamati district. This
Borkol earthquake causes damage to several houses and public buildings,
Earthquake two people were reported killed and several hundred were injured. It
is reported that this earthquake created panic among the people and
one person is killed of panic. The experts assessment revealed that
the hypocenter of the earthquake was to be at 22.82N, 92.30E the
focal depth was 10 Km. The maximum EMS intensity of this
earthquake was estimated as VII (Ansary et al, 2003). Epicenter
distance from Dhaka was 290 km.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, SUST


Lecture note of Sourav Ray

The most prominent historical earthquakes affecting Sylhet have been listed in
Table 3.
Table - 3: List of the major earthquakes affecting Sylhet
Intensity Epicentral
Magnitude Location
Name of in Sylhet distance (in km)
Date (in Richter of
earthquake (in EMS from From
scale) epicenter
scale) Sylhet Dhaka
10 Jainta,
Cachar
January, 7.5 VIII Assam, 90 250
earthquake
1869 India
Bengal 14 July, Bogra,
7.0 V 235 170
earthquake 1885 Bangladesh
Great
12 June, Assam
Indian 8.7 IX 150 230
1897 basin, India
earthquake
Srimongal 8 July, Srimongal,
7.6 VII 70 150
earthquake 1918 Bangladesh
Dhubri,
Dhubri 2 July,
7.1 VI Assam, 195 250
earthquake 1930
India
Seismic/ Earthquake zones

Seismic Zone is the expression of the proneness of a region to EARTHQUAKE


occurrence in the historical past including the expectations in future.

A region experiencing more frequent and large earthquakes has a higher seismicity
compared to one with less frequent and small earthquakes.

Both the temporal and spatial distributions of all earthquakes, small and big, have
to be systematically accounted for by determining their past behaviour to
determine the future trend.

In the preparation of seismic zoning map the common data which are considered
include: SOIL type and foundation conditions, ground structure and its dynamic
characteristics, intensity distribution during past earthquakes, ground motion

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attenuation characteristics, envisaged development and location of major cities,


economic status and simplification shape.

Earthquake zones in Bangladesh


The first seismic zoning map of the subcontinent was compiled by the Geological
Survey of India in 1935.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department adopted a seismic zoning map in
1972.
In 1977, the Government of Bangladesh constituted a Committee of Experts to
examine the seismic problem and make appropriate recommendations.
The Committee proposed a zoning map of Bangladesh in the same year.
According to Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC, 1993), Bangladesh is
divided into 3 earthquake zones (Figure- 6):
Zone –1: the less risky zone. The Zone-1 comprising the southwestern part of
Bangladesh (Jessore, Khulna and Barisal Districts) is seismically quiet, with an
estimated basic seismic co-efficient of 0.04.
Zone–2: medium vulnerable zone. Zone-2 comprising the central part of
Bangladesh (Dhaka, Rajshahi, Dinajpur Bogra, Chittagong and Noakhali Districts)
represents the regions of recent uplifted Pleistocene blocks of the Barind and
Madhupur Tracts, and the western extension of the folded belt.
Zone– 3: the most vulnerable zone. Zone-3 comprising the northern and eastern
regions of Bangladesh (Sylhet, Mymensingh and Rangpur Districts) with the
presence of the Dauki Fault system of eastern Sylhet and the deep seated Sylhet
Fault, and proximity to the highly disturbed southeastern Assam region with the
Jaflong thrust, Naga thrust and Disang thrust, is a zone of high seismic risk with a
basic seismic co-efficient of 0.08. Northern Bangladesh comprising greater
Rangpur and Dinajpur districts is also a region of high seismicity because of the
presence of the Jamuna Fault and the proximity to the active east-west running
fault and the Main Boundary Fault to the north in India. The Chittagong-Tripura
Folded Belt experiences frequent earthquakes, as just to its east is the Burmese Arc
where a large number of shallow depth earthquakes originate. In the modified
zoning map, a part of Chittagong area is included to zone- 3 (Figure- 7).

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Lecture note of Sourav Ray

Fig.- 6: Seismic Zoning Map of Bangladesh Fig.- 7: Modified Seismic


Zoning Map of
Bangladesh
BNBC has placed Sylhet (Latitude: 24.85º N, Longitude: 91.80º E) in seismic zone
3, which is the most vulnerable to earthquake. Based on philosophy behind the
seismic zoning and experience from recent earthquakes, it can reasonably be
assumed that a major earthquake event in Sylhet region is capable of higher
damage than that assumed in the existing zoning map in BNBC. The earthquake
history of Sylhet presented in table shows evidence of damaging earthquakes at
frequent intervals; there have already been a few earthquakes with intensity V
damage during the last 200 years. Based on this historical data, and due to the non-
availability of seismo-tectonic data on lineaments and their level of activity, it is
conceivable that the Sylhet region may experience earthquakes with damage
greater than intensity IX.

Effects of EQ in Dhaka:

The probable scenario for an earthquake to a scale of M6.5 or above in Dhaka city
could cause:

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Lecture note of Sourav Ray

1. Panic among the city dwellers and no knowledge of what is to be done


during and immediately after the eq. occurrence.
2. Possible sinking of many of the buildings on filled earth with shallow
foundations due to the liquefaction effect.
3. If the eq. occurs during monsoon time possible damage of the Dhaka
flood protection embankment due to liquefaction effect causing sudden
submergence of a large area.
4. Large scale damage and some collapse of poorly constructed and/or old
buildings.
5. Possible outbreak of fire in most of the buildings from the gas lines (the
residential ovens are mostly in burning condition from morning to mid-
night)
6. Possible damage of power installations and power cut off for indefinite
period.
7. Water supply failure as almost all the deep tube wells are run by power,
and possible water line damage
8. Damage of roads and blockage of traffic due to falling of debris from
collapsed buildings and other installations on or near roads.
9. Some of the hospital buildings may collapse killing a large number of
inmates and stopping medical facilities for the disaster victims.
10. Some of the school building may collapse killing and injuring a large
number of students
11. An after shock may cause further collapse of many of the already
damaged buildings.
12. A few rescue equipment, whatever are available, can not be operated due
to the lack of guidance, availability of operators, some will be non-
functional, some will be under the rubbles, some can not find access to
rescue spots due to road blockage, etc.
13. Limited access from outside as most or the highways/bridges, airport will
not be functional.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, SUST


Lecture note of Sourav Ray

Preparedness for eq:

To address the problem multisectoral, multiagencies, coordinated efforts are essential. The primary role
to be played, is the responsibility of the GOB, which is to identify a lead agency to coordinate with a
number of lined agencies. The policy issues could be handled mostly at the national level. Planning and
implementation issues are to be handled at the local level. In most countries the city municipalities are the
focal points for the planning and implementation of such issues.

The donor agencies and the NGOs can play vital roles in the identification of the right activities,
prioritizing, coordinating, and expediting the activities and their implementations. They can play as
catalyst to the GOB efforts in the mitigation. The NGOs have relative advantages to handle the soft
elements such as, public awareness, training, etc. They can also assist the implementation of the hard
elements. The donor agencies, can also assist the GOB to access resource and also to procure qualified
personnel for technical evaluation, design, and providing recommendations for the right activities both in
policy matters and the program implementations. In the post earthquake situation the DER can help the
country for quick damage assessment, determination of the individual donors for appropriate assistances,
and coordination of the relief efforts with the GOB.

Broadly, we can classify the approaches in to two categories, i.e., preparedness and response. Some of
the preparedness and response, could be activities, are listed below:

- At the GOB set up a special body, may be within the MDMR (DMB?), to take lead and
coordination role.
- Prepare and disseminate special guidelines (like the standing orders) for earthquake
- Launch extensive mass awareness programs for earthquake; the awareness must include
city dwellers, government officials, municipality officials, politicians, engineers,
architects, designers, builders, medical people, etc.
- Develop appropriate training materials for different groups, such as planners, engineers,
contractors, masons, bar binders, volunteers, fire fighters, doctors, nurses, first aid
providers, etc. Take training programs at the appropriate levels to impart these
trainings.
- Update the Bangladesh Building Code and make the document legal, make it binding
for all construction activities.
- Install and operate seismic instrument at suitable locations on the country.
- Develop a comprehensive regional catalogue of all recorded historical earthquakes in
Bangladesh and adjacent regions that influence the country’s seismic hazards.
- Prepare a regional seismic hazard map of Bangladesh using the existing information
and incorporate appropriate building code.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, SUST


Lecture note of Sourav Ray

- Develop Bangladeshi scientists including seismologists, engineers, architects,


geologists, and other technicians through training and higher education programs to
assume leadership in all aspects of earthquake hazard assessment studies.
- Conduct urban hazard study including microzoning, liquefaction potential survey,
vulnerability assessment of individual buildings, etc. for all the major cities of
Bangladesh. Also, conduct studies for the city life lines (gas, water and sewerage,
power, road access for fire fighters, etc.)
- Conduct special studies on structural soundness of hospitals, fire fighting centers,
schools and university buildings.
- Demonstrate retrofitting and introduce motivation program of retrofitting through
municipality leadership (for Dhaka City this may be RAJUK).
- Assessment of the fire fighting strengths and take appropriate training, provisioning of
appropriate fire fighting equipment, and personnel for individual cities.
- Assessment of the capacity of hospitals and other medical centers to deal with large
casualties.
- Assessment of the doctors, nurses, and other technical personnel, and the medical and
equipment stock
- Assessment of the rescue equipment stock and their usability at the time of response.
- Delineation of an efficient army and civilian combined rescue operation
- Capacity of the existing blood banks, and development of a large blood donors’ list
including database of their contact addresses and blood groups.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, SUST


Lecture note of Sourav Ray

THANK YOU

Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, SUST

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