Introduction Dhaka, one of the oldest historical cities in the Indian sub-continent and now the capital of Bangladesh, is vulnerable to earthquakes. In broad terms, Bangladesh is an earthquake-prone country; its northern and eastern regions in particular are known to be subjected to earthquakes of magnitudes greater than 5 on the Richter scale. The geotectonic set-up of the country, which is located along two of the planet’s active plate boundaries, suggests high probabilities of damaging future earthquakes and the possibility of rarer but extraordinarily large earthquakes that can cause damage far from their epicenters. The juxtaposition of the Himalayan orogen along with its syntaxis northeast of Bangladesh and the convergent Burma Arc plate boundary in the east make this land and Dhaka, in particular, vulnerable to high-magnitude earthquake events. Dhaka, a fast growing and densely populated (12.8 million as of 2008) mega city, poses an extremely high risk because of its population density (45,508 per km 2 ) and innumerable high-rise apartments and office buildings constructed through ignoring the Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) and failing to adhere to standard construction practices. According to Earthquake Disaster Risk Index (EDRI) parameters Dhaka is one of the top twenty high earthquake risk cities in the world (Cardona et al., 1999). The hazard that is inferred from tectonic analysis is backed by historic evidence. Bangladesh, a country of multiple natural disaster vulnerabilities, and its capital Dhaka are under the looming threat of cataclysmic earthquakes. Records show that large earthquakes have previously ravaged the country and the neighbouring region several times over the last 450 years. GeologicandTectonicSet-up Bangladesh, a densely populated country in South Asia, is located in the northeastern part of the Indian sub-continent at the head of the Bay of Bengal. Tectonically, Bangladesh lies in the northeastern EARTHQUAKESOFDHAKA Syed Humayun Akhter