Dhaka (DPA)

A magnitude-5.5 earthquake struck Bangladesh and parts of India on Friday, killing at least 10 people and injuring hundreds of others, officials said.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported that the quake hit at 0438 GMT. Its epicentre was detected in Bangladesh's Ghorashal area, approximately 30 kilometres north-east of Dhaka, at a depth of 10 kilometres.

The tremor, which lasted for several seconds, caused buildings to sway, sending panicked residents into the streets. The Fire Service and Civil Defence emergency response department reported cracks in a number of buildings in Dhaka.

Four people died in the capital, including three who were killed when a railing fell on them from an eight-storey building, according to police officer Rafiqul Islam.

In Gazipur, an industrial district north of the capital, Dhaka, at least 400 people, mostly garment workers, were injured as they rushed in panic to exit factory buildings during the quake, local officials said.

The jolt was also felt in Kolkata, the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, and its adjoining areas, the local Anadabazar newspaper reported.      

Earthquakes are common in northern and south-eastern Bangladesh due to the interaction between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, according to the USGS. But this time, the quake jolted central Bangladesh as a result of "reverse faulting at shallow depth within the Indian plate," it said.