Narsingdi Earthquake: Experts Say Ground Cracks Are Not Cause for Alarm

NARSINGDI, November 23 — The ground cracks that appeared in parts of Narsingdi district following the recent earthquake are not a cause for panic, according to the Geological Survey of Bangladesh (GSB).

A GSB expert team inspected the area, including the earthquake’s epicenter, and concluded that the fissures pose no deep geological risk.

Cracks Caused by Liquefaction
GSB officials explained that the cracks were not formed by the deep fault line where the earthquake originated. Instead, they were caused by a process called liquefaction:

Observation: GSB found that every cracked site was near a waterbody, such as a pond or canal.

The Cause: GSB deputy director Md Mahmud Hossain Khan stated that the intense seismic vibration forced water from these nearby bodies into the loose, dry sand layers of the soil.

The Result: When the soil becomes overly saturated, it temporarily loses its strength and acts like a liquid, causing the surface layer above it to collapse and crack.

Shallow and Localized Damage
The expert team, which visited Narsingdi last Saturday, noted that the fissures they examined were shallow and ranged from four metres to a maximum of 30 metres in length. They stressed that this phenomenon is localized and poses no immediate threat related to the main geological fault.

While the cracks have caused fear among residents—especially since Narsingdi was the epicenter of the 5.7-magnitude quake—experts view the appearance of these shallow cracks as a localized soil instability issue, rather than a sign of worsening seismic danger.