Powerful earthquake rattles Bangladesh, kills 5, injures dozens

At least five people, including two children, were killed as a strong earthquake jolted Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh on Friday morning, prompting residents to flee buildings in panic, according to media reports.

The Bangladesh Meteorological Department said the tremor, which struck at 10:38am (local time), had a magnitude of 5.7 and was centred about 13km from Dhaka at a depth of 10km.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) put the magnitude slightly lower, at 5.5, and located the epicentre about 14km west-southwest of Narsingdi.

The earthquake sparked terror with many in the Muslim-majority nation of 170 million people at home on their day off.

City residents rushed out of their homes as buildings shook and some makeshift structures collapsed, witnesses said.

Interim leader Muhammad Yunus expressed his "deep shock and sorrow over the news of casualties in various districts".

At least five people, including a child, had been killed and around 100 people injured, including university students and factory workers, reports said.

Nine people were taken to hospitals in Dhaka with serious injuries, according to the government's health department.

An eyewitness said masonry from an eight-story building in a Dhaka district had fallen onto a busy road below.

The fire department reported injuries after bricks and loose cement fell from buildings that were under construction.

The USGS warned of potentially "significant casualties" and damage.

Yunus, an 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner, said the government was taking "all necessary measures" and that emergency services were "responding swiftly to the reports of damages" from across the country, including in Dhaka.

The shaking lasted for 26 seconds with its epicentre in Narsingdi's Madhabdi district, according to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, which recorded the magnitude as 5.7.

Strong tremors were felt as far as the Indian city of Kolkata, more than 325km away from the epicentre.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or significant damage in India.