September 12, 2007

Bangladesh on Tsunami alert

According to weather office in Dhaka a tsunami may hit Bangladesh coastal lines after Wednesday midnight following an earthquake measuring 8.2 in Richter scale near southern Sumatra of Indonesia. The earthquake was also felt in Comilla, Noakhali, Chittagong and neighboring districts in Bangladesh.

BDNews24 informs that the Malaysian authorities reported a tsunami measuring 1-3 meters in height and heading away from the epicenter of the quake. The region had been put on Tsunami alert.

The Bangladesh government issued a tsunami warning for all of it's coastal regions, urging people to take shelter in safer ground. Reports in Bangladesh now says that around 3am this morning, a wave 2 to 3 ft higher than regular ones will hit Teknaf, Sandweep and neighboring areas.

Police have used loud-hailers from 8:00pm night (14:00 GMT) in Sandweep, a coastal island. AFP reports quoting the police chief of Sandweep that ao far some 70,000 people have been evacuated to cyclone shelters, colleges, schools and government administrative buildings.

The Pacific Tsunami warning center’s message says:
SEA LEVEL READINGS INDICATE A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED. IT MAY HAVE BEEN DESTRUCTIVE ALONG COASTS NEAR THE EARTHQUAKE EPICENTER.

FOR THOSE AREAS - WHEN NO MAJOR WAVES HAVE OCCURRED FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS AFTER THE ESTIMATED ARRIVAL TIME OR DAMAGING WAVES HAVE NOT OCCURRED FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS THEN LOCAL AUTHORITIES CAN ASSUME THE THREAT IS PASSED. DANGER TO BOATS AND COASTAL STRUCTURES CAN CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS DUE TO RAPID CURRENTS. AS LOCAL CONDITIONS CAN CAUSE A WIDE VARIATION IN TSUNAMI WAVE ACTION THE ALL CLEAR DETERMINATION MUST BE MADE BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES.

BASED ON AVAILABLE DATA THIS CENTER DOES NOT EXPECT MORE WIDESPREAD DESTRUCTIVE EFFECT.

Meanwhile Tsunami warnings have been withdrawn in Indonesia and India.

It is great that the Bangladesh authorities have already warned so that people have sufficient time to take precaution and avoid presence in coastal lines.

Latest reports confirm that the Government has replaced the Tsunami warnings to a tidal surge as the Tsunami waves did not occur after two hours of the estimated time.

(Crossposted in E-Bangladesh)

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