Tremors were felt in multiple places of Bangladesh, including Dhaka, this afternoon.

The earthquake's epicentre was near Mandalay, Myanmar, 597 kilometres south-east from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department office in Agargaon, Dhaka, confirmed Shahnaz Sultana, meteorologist at BMD.

The magnitude of the earthquake was 7.3 at the point of origin, said the BMD official, adding that it occurred at 12:21pm.

She also said this can be categorised as a major earthquake.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that the earthquake created panic in places as far away as Bangkok, with hundreds of people pouring out of buildings in the Thai capital after the tremors.

Witnesses in Bangkok said people ran out onto the streets in panic and water splashed out of swimming pools.

There was no immediate word from Myanmar on damage after the quake, reported Reuters, saying it had a depth of 10 km according to data from German Research Centre for Geosciences.

The United States Geological Survey, on the other hand, reported two tremors near Mandalay this afternoon. According to USGS data, the first occurred at 12:20pm, and was reported to have a magnitude of 7.7, while the other was felt at 12:32pm, with a magnitude of 6.4.