The residents of Dhaka and other places woke up to a 4.3-magnitude tremor on Friday morning that shook many buildings.

The quake hit at 5:57am and lasted for a few seconds. The epicentre of the earthquake was around 23km from the capital near Sreenagar in Munshiganj, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

No casualties or fire hazards were reported immediately.

On December 5 last year, Dhaka and several other parts of the country were struck by a 5.2-magnitude earthquake. Another quake of magnitude 4 was felt in Dhaka on April 25.

Experts say 90% of the deaths from an earthquake happen when people are trapped inside a building constructed through a flouting of rules and if they do not know what to do during or after a quake.

Earthquakes affect faulty buildings and other structures. Buildings and roads develop cracks or tilt or collapse when struck by a strong tremor. Thus, damage from earthquakes can be reduced by identifying faulty buildings and retrofitting them, and making new structures earthquake-resistant.

Bangladesh sits on three fault zones, and three cities – Sylhet, Chittagong and Dhaka – are in the hot zones. Experts say a strong earthquake stemming from any of the three faults will cause massive destruction to buildings, bridges and supply channels of utility services, and may cause the death of hundreds of thousands of people.