A strong earthquake shakes central Bangladesh, killing 8 people

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A powerful 5.5-magnitude earthquake shook central Bangladesh on Friday, killing at least eight people and injuring more than 300 others, authorities and local media reported. Buildings in the country's capital, Dhaka, shook due to the quake, sending terrified residents into the streets.

The earthquake occurred at 10:38 a.m., and its epicenter was in Gorachal district of Narsindi district, about 25 kilometers (16 miles) from Dhaka. The US Geological Survey said it was 10 kilometers (6 miles) deep.

Dhaka-based DBC TV said two children were among the dead. The deaths occurred mostly due to collapsing roofs and walls. A building wall fell and three people were killed on a street in Dhaka.

Prothom Alo newspaper said the three were shopping at a butcher shop in Armanitola, an area of ​​Dhaka's Old City, and were taken to hospital where they were pronounced dead.

A local resident, Muhammad Arif, said he went outside when he heard a loud noise and “I saw some bricks had fallen, and I saw some people injured as well.”

The Fire Department and Civil Defense deployed firefighters to locations where people reported buildings tilting, as well as a fire in Dhaka's Baridhara district.

The country's leading Bengali-language newspaper, Prothom Alo, said 252 people, most of them garment workers, were taken to hospital in the Ghazipur district, outside Dhaka. The area has hundreds of clothing factories and other industrial facilities.

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The newspaper said that the workers tried to leave their factories quickly when the earthquake occurred, which led to a stampede that left many injured.

Television stations broadcast footage of worried and crying relatives of the victims as the victims were taken to medical facilities, including the state-run Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Dhaka University students jumped from the upper floors of their dormitories during the earthquake.

According to the USGS, although northern and southeastern Bangladesh are seismically active areas due to interactions between the Indian and Eurasian plates, the central region of the country is less active.

The USGS says that since 1950, only 14 earthquakes — magnitude 5.5 including two magnitude 6 quakes — have occurred within a 250-kilometre (156-mile) radius of Friday's quake.

Experts warn that Bangladesh, with a population of 170 million, is less prepared for high-magnitude earthquakes that can cause a lot of destruction. The capital, which has about 2.1 million buildings, is at particularly greater risk.

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