A strong earthquake of magnitude 5.5 struck Bangladesh on Friday, killing at least three people and leaving dozens injured, authorities said.

The quake struck at 10:38 a.m. local time (0438 GMT) near the city of Narsingdi, about 33 kilometres (16 miles) from Dhaka, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

Panicked families rushed to the streets as buildings trembled during the quake.

"We felt a strong jolt and buildings were shaking like trees," Suman Rahman, a Dhaka resident, told Reuters news agency. "Staircases were jammed as people rushed down. Everyone was terrified, and children were crying."

The tremors were felt as far as the Indian city of Kolkata in the eastern state of West Bengal, more than 325 kilometres away from the epicenter.

A medical student who fell from an eight-story building in a Dhaka was among those killed in the earthquake.

There were no immediate reports of major damage in either country, authorities said.

What did Bangladesh's interim leader say?

"The government is taking all necessary measures, giving the utmost importance to the safety of the people," interim leader Muhammad Yunus said in a statement.

He said emergency services were "responding swiftly to the reports of damages being received" from across the country, including in Dhaka.

"The situation is being closely monitored, and all relevant departments have been directed to immediately go to the field to assess any possible damages," Yunus said.

The northern and southeastern parts of Bangladesh are seismically active regions due to interactions between the India and Eurasia plates, but the country's central region is less active, according to USGS.

Edited by: Saim Dušan Inayatullah