Quake hits Bangladesh

An earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale hit different parts of the country and India, Myanmar and Thailand yesterday afternoon.

The earthquake was felt at 4:37pm in Dhaka. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The epicenter of the quake was 25 km west of Chauk in Myanmar, which is around 500 km away from Dhaka, Syed Humayun Akhter, professor of geology at Dhaka University, told The Daily Star.

The quake struck at the depth of 84.1 km, according to United States Geological Survey.

Panic gripped people who came out of their offices and houses in Kolkata and Patna, reports our Kolkata correspondent.

Metro services were suspended in Kolkata of West Bengal after the earthquake was felt there.

The Myanmar authorities said the quake hit the town of Chauk, southwest of Mandalay. It was also felt as far away as Bangkok, reports Reuters.

“My house shook during the quake. Many people were scared and they ran out of the buildings,” said Maung Maung Kyaw, a local official of the ruling National League for Democracy.

“I went outside to check the situation in the town. Some of the buildings were split and nearly collapsed, but I didn't see any people affected by the quake,” he added.

A fire department official in the regional capital Magwe said, “So far as we heard from our local staff, a three-storey building collapsed in Chauk and a pagoda was badly damaged in a town called Yenanchaung.”

Ko Tin Ko Lwin, a resident of Yenanchaung, told Reuters that a pagoda that had been cracked before the quake had collapsed, while electricity poles and some trees were felled.