According to the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), the tremor was recorded at 4:15:47 pm. Volcano Discovery reported that the epicenter was located 31 kilometres northeast of Dhaka.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department confirmed the magnitude at 3.6 and said the quake’s epicenter was in Ghorashal, Narsingdi. Officials described it as a low-intensity earthquake.
This marks the third earthquake felt in the country within a span of about 13 hours—from 3 am Wednesday to 4:30 pm Thursday. The first tremor, recorded at 3:29 am, measured 4.0 on the Richter scale and originated 118 kilometres from Teknaf. The quake shook parts of Cox’s Bazar, including Teknaf town.
A second mild tremor, measuring 3.4, was felt in Sylhet at 3:30:49 am. Many residents did not notice it due to its low intensity. The latest tremor of magnitude 3.6 was felt at 4:15 pm.
Can earthquakes be predicted?
Following the Türkiye–Syria earthquake in 2023 which killed nearly 60,000 people rumors spread across India and Pakistan that a similar quake would strike within days. Similar panic is now being observed in Bangladesh.
However, global experts have consistently stated that earthquakes cannot be predicted.
Professor Michael Bruno, an earthquake engineering expert at the University of Buffalo, said, “There is no science, magic, or sorcery that can predict the exact time of an earthquake. Scientists do not have this ability.”
He added that although researchers have tried every possible method, no one has ever succeeded in reliably forecasting an earthquake.
Professor Egil Hauksson, a geophysics researcher at the California Institute of Technology, echoed the same view: “It is still not possible to say precisely when an earthquake will occur.”
