Quake jolts northern districts

At least five buildings were partially damaged when a mild earthquake was felt in Rajshahi and its adjacent areas on Saturday night. Two buildings used as private hostel are located at Moni Chattar in the city and the rest are in different areas in the city and Paba upazila. The earthquake, which took place at about 11:00pm and lasted for few seconds, was felt in the Rajshahi city and its adjacent areas including the Bagha, Charghat, Puthia, Godagari, Paba and Bagmara areas. The people of these areas got panicked during the earthquake. They came out of their houses and stayed outside for some times to avoid any possible disaster. The Met Office in Rajshahi could not give any information about the earthquake as it has no Richter scale. News agency bdnews24.com adds: Mainul Islam, a meteorologist of the Met Office in Dhaka, said the quake was recorded at 10:55pm Saturday with its epicentre located 290 kilometres north-northwest of Dhaka. The quake was felt in Chapainawabganj, Rajshahi, Natore and Pabna, he said. The UNB said: Around 300 university and college students left the private hostel Sunday morning as the six-storey building tilted during Saturday night’s earthquake. Haji Hostel, housing 300 students of Rajshahi University, Rajshahi College and other educational institutions, tilted on the night but no one was reported injured. Around 20-30 old buildings in the north-western city also developed cracks, but there were no reports of anyone hurt.