Moderate quake jolts B'desh, no casualties

A 5.9-magnitude earthquake jolted Bangladesh's southeast, but no causalities were immediately reported, weather department said.

A 5.9-magnitude earthquake on Tuesday jolted Bangladesh's southeast, but no causalities or damage were immediately reported, the Meteorological Department said.

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The quake hit southeastern port city of Chittagong and its neighbouring districts at around 7 am, the department said in a statement.

Officials could not provide information on the quake's epicentre, as the impoverished country lacks the necessary equipment.

The quake lasted more than a minute in Chittagong city, 216 kilometres southeast of national capital, Dhaka, the weather office said.

Large quakes are rare in Bangladesh, a delta nation of 140 million people.