Dhaka, Nov. 2 -- Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has ordered all-out preparations to deal with earthquakes.

He gave the directive at a meeting on earthquake readiness at the Prime Minister's Office in the Secretariat on Monday morning, according to his Deputy Press Secretary Hasan Shiplu.

"The meeting discussed what should be done to tackle potential earthquake risks," Shiplu said. "The prime minister directed officials to strengthen advance preparations, identify risky buildings and boost emergency rescue capacity."

Tarique called for a coordinated action plan to ensure public safety in Dhaka and other earthquake-prone parts of the country.

He told officials to identify risky and old buildings, follow the national building code in cons...