Bangladesh has experienced an unusual surge in seismic activity throughout February, with at least 10 mild to moderate earthquakes recorded across various parts of the country within a 27-day span.
The most significant of these tremors struck on Friday afternoon.
Farzana Sultana, a meteorologist at the department’s earthquake monitoring center, said the tremor measured 5.4 on the Richter scale.
The epicentre was located in Ashashuni upazila near the Satkhira border, about 188 kilometres southwest of Dhaka.
This latest event follows a series of tremors earlier in the week. On Thursday, a 3.7 magnitude earthquake was felt, with its epicentre in India’s Sikkim state near the Bangladesh border. On Wednesday night (25 February), a 5.1 magnitude tremor occurred, centred approximately 112 kilometres north-northwest of Monywa and 75 kilometres southeast of Mawlaik in Myanmar’s Sagaing region.
The month’s seismic activity began on 1 February with a 3.0 magnitude quake in southeast Sylhet. On 3 February, the country was shaken twice by tremors originating in Myanmar, while a 4.1 magnitude earthquake was recorded in Satkhira’s Kalaroa upazila earlier that dawn.
Subsequent tremors hit the Sylhet region on 9 and 10 February, measuring 3.3 and 4.0 respectively. On 19 February, another 4.1 magnitude earthquake originated from Chhatak in Sunamganj.
While no major damage or casualties have been reported thus far, the frequency of the tremors has sparked widespread public panic. Geologists and experts view this high frequency of small and medium-sized quakes as a precursor to a major disaster.
Experts explain that Bangladesh is geographically situated at the junction of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, making it highly vulnerable to seismic risks.
They warn that while small tremors allow for a partial release of accumulated internal energy, a prolonged period without a major energy release, coupled with the current high frequency of smaller shakes, could signal an impending catastrophic earthquake.
