Mild earthquake in Sylhet, bigger shaking
People said that these tremors, lasting one to three seconds, were different from any previous earthquake
The people of Sylhet felt earthquakes at least five times between 10:58am to 2pm on Saturday.
The source of the earthquakes was said to be 10-15 kilometres below the ground and 196 to 227 kilometres from Dhaka.
According to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), the first earthquake struck at 10:58am with a magnitude of 4.1. The magnitude of the tremor that occurred at 4pm was 4. The rest were milder.
People said that these tremors, lasting one to three seconds, were different from any previous earthquake. However, no casualties were reported.
"I felt a very bad kind of tremor. The last earthquake occurred at 2pm which lasted only a second, but I feared that the building would collapse. It was different from previous earthquakes that occurred in Assam or Nepal," said Jabed Kaiser, an assistant professor in the anthropology department at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology.
Experts said that such light tremors often occur in this region. Having a high frequency can cause awkward tremors with vibrations for a brief time, but cannot cause major damage.
Dr Anwar Hossain Bhuiyan, Professor of Geology, Dhaka University, said, "There were high-frequency tremors, so it was felt for a short period. There are Dauki Faults in the Sylhet region. Energy stored inside the earth is released through Dauki Faults."
BMD Meteorologist Mominul Islam said, "Since 2019, sources of four earthquakes, with a magnitude between 2.77 and 4, were in Sylhet and surrounding areas. Out of five earthquakes on Saturday, the magnitude of two was 4. The earthquakes were not detected by seismographs in Dhaka. Data was found only from Sylhet."
"Small tremors can occur before or after a large earthquake. So, there is a possibility of large tremors in the Sylhet region. On the other hand, repeated earthquakes release the stored energy, which is good because the energy required for big earthquakes weakens through small tremors," he added.
In April, Dhaka felt an earthquake originated in Assam, 397 kilometres from Dhaka.
