Savar’s Baipail jolted for second day as fresh tremor strikes

Just a day after a strong earthquake rattled Dhaka and several other parts of Bangladesh, a mild tremor was felt again on Saturday morning in Baipail, Savar, heightening public concern over the capital’s seismic vulnerability.

According to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), the latest quake, measuring 3.3 on the Richter scale, was recorded at 10:36 am.

Its epicentre was located about 29 km west of the BMD Seismic Centre in Agargaon.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, officials said.

At least 10 people were killed and scores injured when a 5.7-magnitude earthquake jolted parts of Bangladesh on Friday. Of them, four died in Dhaka, five in Narsingdi – the epicentre of the quake – and one in Narayanganj.

Reports also emerged of buildings leaning in Sutrapur’s Swamibagh and Kalabagan’s Abedkhali Road, prompting further unit deployments.

Bangladesh sits on the collision zone of major tectonic plates, crossed by several active fault lines, placing the country at high seismic risk. The region has a long history of powerful earthquakes — five major quakes between 1869 and 1930 measured above 7.0 on the Richter scale.

Experts say the absence of strong earthquakes in recent decades should not be taken as reassurance, warning that this quiet period could be a precursor to a major event.

Seismic activity has increased in recent years. Of the 60 earthquakes detected since 2024, three had magnitudes above 4.0 and 31 ranged between 3.0 and 4.0. With rapid urbanisation and weak building standards, the country remains dangerously exposed.

Dhaka is considered one of the world’s 20 most earthquake-vulnerable cities.

The Rana Plaza collapse in 2013, which killed more than 1,100 people, highlighted the deadly consequences of unsafe construction.

A 2018 assessment showed that many buildings in Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Pallabi, Rampura, Motijheel and Khilgaon do not meet proper structural and design requirements.

Chattogram, the Chittagong Hill Tracts and Sylhet’s Jaintiapur are among the highest-risk zones. A major earthquake in any of these regions could trigger a catastrophic situation in Dhaka.