In Chittagong, six buildings tilted and 10 people sustained injuries
Photo- Mahmud Hossain OpuAn earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale at its epicentre in Myanmar jolted Bangladesh at 7:55pm on Wednesday.
In Chittagong, six buildings tilted and 10 people sustained injuries.
Bangladesh Meteorological Department’s former Director Shah Alam told the Dhaka Tribune that the epicentre of the earthquake was located 74km southeast of Mawlaik in Mayanmar, some 460km from Dhaka.
According to the US Geological survey, the epicentre of the earthquake was located at 396.0 km North-west of Naypyidaw, the capital of Myanmar.
He said the impact of the quake in Dhaka could not be known immediately.
Soon after the quake, many panic-stricken Dhaka residents came out on streets. Mobile communication was also disrupted in most areas.
Duty Officer at the Fire Service headquarters in Dhaka, Palash Chandra Modak, said they were yet to receive any information on casualty in the capital.
In Chittagong, panicked residents living mostly in high-rise buildings came out of their houses to stand under the open sky.
“The intensity of the quake was high,” said Bishu Kumar Das of the Fire Service and Civil Defence in Chittagong.
“Six multi-storey buildings, including a garment factory, tilted in Halishahar, Chandgaon, Agrabad, Sagarika and Love Lane areas. The building in Agrabad is a four-storey garment factory named VS Garment and it tilted on Sonet Garment, a six-storey factory. VS Garment was empty when the quake struck and firefighters evacuated Sonet Garment,” he added.
Naik Jahangir Alam of Chittagong Medical College Hospital police outpost said 10 people – nine garment workers and a Chittagong University student named Raihan – were admitted to the hospital after the quake.
“The nine garment workers were injured as they all tried to run out of the building they were in at the same time while Raihan jumped off the first floor of Shahjalal Hall of the university. He was having his meal when the quake hit,” he added.
Soon after the earthquake, many panic-stricken people came out of buildings in Dhaka.
Read also: Bangladesh in gravest threat of earthquake
NDTV reported that huge tremors were felt in Kolkata, strong tremors in Guwahati and Patna, and mild ones in Chennai and Delhi.
Tremors sent residents out into the streets in China also, according to BBC.
Source: Dhaka tribune
