Raja GC High School in Sylhet tilts, develops huge cracks after earthquakes

A building of Raja Girish Chandra (GC) High School in Sylhet’s Bandarbazar has tilted and developed huge cracks following earthquakes.

Two 3.8 magnitude tremors hit the region within minutes just before 6:30pm on Monday, spreading panic among the residents who rushed out of buildings to safety.

The epicentre was in South Surma, 188km northeast from Dhaka.

The school’s Headmaster Abdul Mumin said a staffer informed him about the cracks in the two-storey building after the quakes.

The building has also tilted while the plaster has peeled off at some places, the headmaster said after an inspection.

He demanded the authorities repair the building before the end of the shutdown over the coronavirus. 

Named after late mayor Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran, the ground floor of the building was constructed in 2006, and the second one in 2017. The school was established in 1886 by Raja Girish Chandra.

Mayor Ariful Hoque Chowdhury visited the school on Monday night.

“The building appears very risky due to the cracks at a number of places. We should learn some lessons from this. We can’t be emotional. We must take quick steps after talking to the relevant authorities,” he said.

Mayor Ariful also said the authorities were taking steps to demolish all the vulnerable buildings in the city.

After at least four tremors in four hours on May 29, Sylhet experienced earthquakes the next morning, triggering panic and call from experts to arrange regular safety drills.

The authorities sealed 24 buildings declared vulnerable after the quakes. One of the buildings also tilted after the tremors.

Dhaka University’s Earth Observatory detected the epicentre of last month’s tremors near the east end of the Dauki fault, a major fault along the southern boundary of the Shillong Plateau that causes seismic hazards for the adjoining areas, including Bangladesh’s northeast.

Experts fear the latest quakes may bear the omen that it is an active earthquake zone and a huge quake may occur anytime.