Earthquake in Bangladesh: latest

We will add to this article with updates as they come in.

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03.52
We are ending this live update now and will post and further news in a new story. Thank you for keeping up with the news with East London News. Stay safe.

03.50
We express our condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives and extend our sympathy to those who have been injured and have had property or possessions damaged. We are thankful that the numbers of those killed and injured are not larger.

03.34
An eyewitness account from Fenchuganj, around 100 miles west of the epicentre, stated that the whole house was shaking. Reports from the area state that the shaking lasted between 30 seconds and two minutes.

03.22
A new report from Imphal now says that four people have died and around 100 have been injured, largely due to debris falling off buildings. The market area of Imphal is reported to have experienced particularly severe damage. It is thought that there are few tall buildings in the country around Imphal, so it is hoped that there will be minimal casualties, if any.

03.20
There is a report that 10 students of Dhaka University rushed out of their residences when they felt the earthquake and suffered injury, though the circumstances are not known. They are being treated at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

03.12
The website bnews24.com reports the following eyewitn3ess accounts:
“Susmita Shahreen, a resident of Bashundhara Residential Area, told bdnews24.com that she woke up to the jolts. ‘I woke my father and mother up and rushed down the stairs with them. It was strong.’
“The tremor shock spilled out on the streets in Sylhet as well. It caused people to run screaming for open ground, seeking divine intervention for their safety. ‘We rushed out and saw the people were frightened and screaming crazily,’ said Anindita Das at Subidbazar.
“Md Wahiduzzaman of Mirzajangal happened not to be in bed. He said the earthquake flipped him off the couch like a coin. Shaken but unhurt, he searched the house and saw the doors to the bedroom closet had been knocked off their tracks and landed on his pillow.
“Rajib Das, a resident of Machhudighir Par in the northeastern city, had been having trouble sleeping and was watching TV when he felt something akin to ‘a giant hand reaching down and shaking me.’ He was untouched, but a five-foot-high wooden bookcase had toppled onto his side of the bed. Sometimes, he reflected later, ‘insomnia is good for your health.’”

03.10
All Bangladeshi sources are confirming minor damage and no reports of casualties. Meanwhile reports confirm damage was greater in India, especially in Imphal, the town nearest the epicentre. Some buildings have had structural damage and some buildings have collapsed. One report suggests that one man was killed by a collapsing building.

02.50
The epicentre of the earthquake is around 220 miles east of Dhaka. Local Dhaka press sources say that the quake occurred just after 5am Bangladesh Standard Time and there is confirmation that people rushed out of their homes into the streets in Dhaka and in parts of Sylhet. There are local reports of minor damage to properties and belongings. All local press sources are stating that they have not received any reports of injuries or deaths, although there is an amount of fear and panic among people waiting out on the streets.

02.45
Pictures are coming through on Twitter showing slabs of concrete which have fallen off buildings in Imphal.

02.40
The US Geological website reports receiving local reports of moderate to strong ground shaking in eastern India and the eastern part of Bangladesh, with ligher ground shaking reported in western Bangladesh. There are also reports of ground shaking in the neighbouring countries of Myanmar, Bhutan and Nepal. Technically, the quake occurred over 30 miles below the earth’s surface: this sounds deep, but is still classed as a “shallow focus” earthquake. This kind of earthquake usually causes serious earth tremors at and near the epicentre but the tremors spread less far than with deeper earthquakes.

04.01.15, 02.30 London time
There are reports that an earthquake shook Bangladesh at 4.30am local time this morning (approximately 10.30pm London time). The epicentre was 18 miles from Imphal, the capital of Manipur state, India – just to the east of Bangladesh. The quake had a magnitude of 6.7.

Immediate reports stated that most people were in bed when the quake struck but were woken up and rushed out into their streets. There are reports of some minor damage being experienced in people’s homes – with furniture falling over and items falling off shelves. Some buildings were damaged, but there were no reports of casualties – at least in urban areas.

Generally, earthquake scientists are pointing out that there had been no tremors in the area before this morning’s quake, so the most likely result is that there may be more minor tremors and tensions inside the earth subside – but it is not likely that this is a warning of a bigger quake to come. There were reports that some scientists in Holland were warning that there may be another quake to come, but this was a minority opinion among earthquake scientists globally.