People have faced a brief but distressing disruption in mobile-phone network while trying to reach their loved ones over phones after a strong earthquake shook Bangladesh.
After the tremors on Wednesday evening, users told bdnews24.com that they were unable to make any calls.
An official of one of the operators said the disruption in the communications occurred when a huge of number of people started making calls at the same time.
“It put the switching centres under heavy pressure resulting in the obstructing the exchange of calls. But it returned to normal after a while,” added the official, who spoke to bdnews24.com on condition of anonymity.
The earthquake was felt in capital Dhaka and elsewhere around 7:55pm, spreading panic among the people, many of whom rushed out of the shaking multi-storey buildings.
Most of them tried to reach their family over phones but failed.
Several students of a madrasa in Moghbazar’s Modhubagh were injured when they were racing down the stairs of their six-storey building.
In Sylhet, at least 10 people were injured while rushing out of buildings or scurrying on the streets.
The tremors also left a number of buildings in Chittagong tilted to their sides.
The quake with its epicentre in Myanmar measured 7.2 in the Richter scale, according to the Met Office in Dhaka.
But the US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake that struck northwest Myanmar at 7:55pm was 6.9 in magnitude.
It originated 100 kilometres north-northwest of the city of Monywa. The quake struck at a depth of 135 km, it said.
Bangladesh Meteorological Department’s earthquake observatory centre official Md Hanif told bdnews24.com, “This was a strong earthquake. Its magnitude is only rivalled by the quake in Nepal in recent times.”
Source: Bd news24
