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DHAKA - A shallow, 4.9-magnitude earthquake hit northeastern Bangladesh early Sunday, meteorologists said.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake was centred 115 kilometres (70 miles) north of the capital Dhaka at a depth of 5.2 kilometres and struck at 12:51 am (1851 GMT Saturday).
There were no reports of any damage or casualties, but the tremor was felt in Dhaka and a police spokesman in Mymensingh, the district nearest the epicentre, told AFP it sparked panic there.
A meteorologist at Bangladesh's Storm Warning Centre said it had measured the quake at 5.6 on the Richter scale, according to local media reports.
Bangladesh last month announced plans to step up its earthquake response contingency plans.
The South Asian nation sits on active tectonic plates and is frequently jolted by tremors. The last major earthquake struck in 1896.
- AFP /ls
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