DHAKA — Two minor tremors hit Bangladesh on Saturday, a day after a powerful earthquake struck outside the capital Dhaka and killed at least 10 people.
A 3.3-magnitude jolt was recorded in Narshingdi district, east of Dhaka, in the morning, followed by a 4.3-magnitude quake that struck the capital around 6:00 pm (1200 GMT), according to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department.
Dhaka resident Tasnuba Sharmin Sharna, 32, said her children started screaming as the furniture in their apartment began shaking.
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“We are praying to God for mercy,” Sharna told AFP.
Friday’s deadly earthquake was felt in Dhaka and neighbouring districts, causing widespread destruction.
Updating earlier tolls from the 5.5-magnitude quake, disaster management official Ishtiaqe Ahmed told AFP that “the number of casualties has reached 10, while a few hundreds were injured”.
There were no immediate reports of casualties on Saturday, but the aftershocks — which are common after major earthquakes — have added to fears of an even greater disaster.
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“I don’t feel safe yet, as there was another jolt this morning… Maybe we are next,” said Shahnaj Parvin, 44, who lives near the epicentre of Friday’s earthquake and told AFP she had never experienced such a tremor.
Cracks have developed in dozens of houses in her area, she said.
“I was hanging my children’s clothes on the washing line when the tremor struck,” added Parvin.
“I held onto a mahogany tree, and when I returned home, I found my glassware broken.”
The government has activated Bangladesh’s emergency operation centre to assess the scale of the damage and to coordinate relief and rescue operations.
Rubayet Kabir of the Meteorological Department’s Earthquake Observation and Research Center said Bangladesh’s geography makes the country of 170 million people prone to quakes.
“That’s why we experience earthquakes quite frequently, though they are not as strong as the one” on Friday, he told AFP.
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“Some small tremors are expected after any major earthquake,” Kabir said.
“There has been no massive earthquake in the last 100 years or more, but Bangladesh has been vulnerable for quite some time.” /dl