To say that the entire country has been shaken awake by the recent magnitude‑5.7 tremor that rattled Dhaka and nearby districts would at this stage be an understatement.
With at least 10 people dead and more than a hundred injured, it has been difficult for the entire nation to come to terms with it. Yet, with experts warning that this was not the disaster itself, but merely a warning tremor, we must, despite the difficulty, look to fortify our cities.
Indeed, the numbers that experts have been speaking about are staggering. More than 800,000 of Dhaka’s 2.1 million buildings could collapse in a magnitude‑7 or stronger quake, and an astonishing 95% of buildings constructed between 2006 and 2016 were unauthorized or built without approved designs.
This goes beyond simple negligence and veers towards disregard that can only be described as criminal. Despite warnings for what feels like decades now, building codes have remained unenforced, urbanization has been thoughtless, and disaster‑preparedness essentially ignored.
Waiting for the next major earthquake to hit us is no way to be. While it is all but guaranteed that the aftermath of such a quake would be beyond catastrophic, we must treat every day now as an opportunity to prepare.
This is a matter of national security and the time for rhetoric has passed. We must prepare, starting today, starting with identifying structures most at risk, but moving on to ensuring that we do not repeat the same mistakes. The choice is brutally simple: Fortify now or be buried later.
As things currently stand, Dhaka cannot survive a major earthquake. We must do all we can to change this reality.
