They also warned that some two lakh people would die in Dhaka city alone if the country is hit by an earthquake with a magnitude similar to the quake that struck Assam and Sylhet region in 1897.

But there is little preparedness on the part of the government to mitigate the damage after any massive earthquakes, they said, adding that there is also a lack of awareness among the general people in this regard, which would only make the situation worse.

Bangladesh Earthquake Society (BES) and the Prothom Alo jointly organised the roundtable on 'Devastating earthquake in 1897 and today's Bangladesh' at the newspaper's office in the city.

On June 12 in 1897, a massive earthquake with epicentre at Shillong in Assam occurred, leaving 1542 dead. The roundtable was organised to assess today's position in context of 1897 quake.

Brac University Vice-chancellor and BES President Prof Jamilur Reza Chowdhury presented the basic information about the 1897 earthquake. He said, "We are lucky that no devastating earthquake took place in Bangladesh in the 20th century. We also do not have experiences of tackling such a disaster."

He also said that the government has not yet adopted any effective policy to mitigate the damage in the event of any massive quake.

In his speech, Prof Muntasir Mamun of history department, Dhaka University, highlighted the human tragedy caused by the earthquake that occurred in 1897 when the population of Dhaka city was one lakh.

According to official statistics, nine big establishments were damaged in Dhaka and the financial loss was estimated at Tk 1.5 lakh, he said. But the figure was Tk 20 lakh according to newspaper reports during that time, he added.

Deputy Town Planner of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartipakkha (Rajuk) Sirajul Islam said the Dhaka city is now home to 1.3 crore people. The owners of most buildings did not follow the rules and regulations during the construction. So, if any massive earthquake strikes the city, there would be numerous casualties.

As Rajuk has only 600 employees, it is difficult to monitor on the regular basis whether the building code are being followed during the construction work, he said.

Director General (additional) of Bureau of Disaster Management AHM Abdullah said the government has taken a number of measures to tackle quake damage.

The government is implementing several projects to equip the city corporation, fire brigade and the armed forces with modern equipment in this regard, he added.

BES Secretary General Prof Mehedi Ahammad Ansari, Senior Vice-President Md Abu Sadeque, Vice-President Prof Aftab Alam Khan and disaster risks reduction specialist Khurshid Alam also spoke.