|
A
light earthquake struck the city of
Dhaka and the surrounding areas, on 19
December 2001 at 13:54 PM local time resulting in several injuries
in the Dhaka area. It had a magnitude of
Mw=4.2 and was felt for nearly 21-seconds.
The earthquake
was centred 1.5
kilometres SE of Kamarkanda (Dhaka), Bangladesh,
13.7 kilometres SW of Dhaka (Dhaka),
Bangladesh,
21 kilometres WNW of Narayanganj (Dhaka),
Bangladesh,
45.2 kilometres E of Faridpur (Khulna),
Bangladesh,
78.4 kilometres SE of Tangail (Dhaka), Bangladesh,
101 kilometres W of Agartala (Tripura), India,
116 kilometres NE of Khulna (Khulna), Bangladesh,
214 kilometres NW of Chittagong (Chittagong), Bangladesh.
100 prison inmates were hurt in a stampede at
the Dhaka Central Jail on Nazimuddin Road. 41 of the injured were
discharged after first aid while 25 others were hospitalized.
The incident took place when prisoners rushed to exit the
building during the earthquake and
crowded at a narrow staircase. This led
to the collapse of the banister and 10 persons fell from the first
floor of the three storey building. The rest were injured in the
ensuing stampede. Initial reports suggested a
roof collapse at this prison in which 5 people lost their lives
but this was later proven incorrect.
This earthquake was strongly felt in the Dhaka area, sending many
running out of their homes and offices in panic. UNDP employees
came out of the 20-storey IDB
building at Agargaon and spent an hour on the Rokeya Sarani
awaiting aftershocks. A similar
situation unfolded in the Motijheel Commercial area, with many
people coming out of their offices. The duration of the earthquake
in Dhaka city was 21 seconds. Some buildings in the old part of
the city were damaged. The earthquake
was felt at Narayanganj where people
rushed outdoors while some blew conch
shells and began praying in temples. Tremors were reported from
nearly all parts of Bangladesh. It was felt at Chittagong, Comilla,
Gazipur, Laxmipur, Munshiganj, Rajshahi and Rangpur. The shock
lasted 5-seconds at Rangpur, and was
noticed by just a few at Chittagong. |
|
References
01)
International Seismological Centre (ISC),
Berkshire.
02)
India Meteorological Department (IMD),
Delhi.
03)
Harvard Centroid Moment Tensor Solution (HRV), Harvard, USA.
04)
Macroseismic information has been compiled by
the ASC from reports by local media and local NGO personnel.
Page Citation
Information on this page may be reproduced in print or
electronically but it is requested that a
citation be given to
this website in the form of a link i.e. "www.asc-india.org".
Map Disclaimer
International boundaries
of India (especially Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand) on the
displayed map are from Google Maps. These do not conform to the
external boundaries of India recognized by the Survey of India. That
they are displayed on this page via Google Maps, is only for display purposes and
this should not be misinterpreted as an endorsement
of these boundaries by the Amateur Seismic Centre (ASC). |
