The Test match between Bangladesh and Ireland at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka, on Friday came to a halt as the earthquake tremors were felt on the ground. The visitors were 165/5 when the incident occurred “Goodness. Play has stopped here due to a minor tremor/earthquake,” Cricket Ireland wrote on X (Formerly known as Twitter).
The epicentre of the quake, which occurred at approximately 10.08 am IST at a relatively shallow depth of 10 km, was located 13 km south-southwest of Narsingdi in Bangladesh. A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck Bangladesh on Friday, the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) said, with the epicentre at a depth of 10 km (6 miles).
Tremors were also felt in eastern states in neighbouring India that border Bangladesh, but there were no immediate reports of major damage in either country, authorities said. The United States Geological Survey said the earthquake’s epicentre was in the city of Narsingdi, about 40 km (25 miles) east of Dhaka, the capital.
Residents rushed out of their homes in Dhaka as buildings shook and some makeshift structures collapsed, Reuters witnesses said.
“I have never felt such a tremor in my life. We were at the office when the furniture started shaking. We rushed down the stairs on the street and saw other people on the road already,” said Sadman Sakib, who works in a private firm in Dhaka.
Local media showed pictures of people carrying their children and helping senior citizens out of their homes as the tremors caused panic.
When did the last earthquake hit a cricket match?
In 2022, during a match between Ireland and Zimbabwe shook vigorously for a few seconds as an earthquake off the coast of Port of Spain sent mild tremors through the Queen’s Park Oval at Port of Spain, Trinidad.
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While the players were unaware and continued the action on the field, the commentators could feel the tremors as the commentary box began shaking. The earthquake was measured at 5.2 magnitude on the Richter scale.
Ireland spinner Matthew Humphreys was bowling the fifth ball of the sixth over to Zimbabwe’s Brian Bennett when the front-on camera showing the action began to shake. Play was not stopped as Bennett played a defensive shot to mid-off, and then hit the next ball to the boundary.
“A 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck near Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday morning. According to the UWI Seismic Research Centre, the quake occurred around 9:40am at a depth of 10km,” a report in the Loop News website said.
(With Agency inputs)
