Earthquake disrupts power generation at multiple locations in Bangladesh

“Efforts to normalise power generation and maintain the supply are ongoing,” says the Power Development Board

The Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) has reported that power generation has been disrupted in multiple locations across the country due to the earthquake on Friday.

The PDB said in a statement, “There have been temporary disruptions in power generation plants and supply systems in multiple parts of the country due to the strong earthquake. Efforts to normalise power generation and maintain the supply are ongoing.”

Shamim Hasan, spokesman for the PDB, said that one unit of the Banshkhali Power Plant was already shut down, and a second unit has also been shut down after the earthquake. A unit of the United Power Plant in Bibiyana has also been shut down.

Rubayat Kabir, of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department’s Earthquake Monitoring and Research Centre said a quake registering at magnitude 5.7 on the Richter scale hit Bangladesh around 10:38am.

The epicentre of the earthquake was 13 kilometres away from Dhaka, and 10 kilometres below the surface, he said.

However, the United States Geological Survey (USGS), says the earthquake was at magnitude 5.5 on the Richter scale and the epicentre was about 14 kilometres west-southwest of Narsingdi.

Four people have reportedly been killed due to the quake so far. Three pedestrians died after railing of a five-storey building in Dhaka’s Bangshal collapsed. A 10-month-old infant also died when a wall of a building in Narayanganj’s Rupganj Upazila collapsed.

Cracks have also been reported at many buildings across the capital.