Bangladeshi jailhouse rocked by quake

Volunteers carry an injured prisoner

DHAKA, Bangladesh -- A building in a Bangladeshi jail was crushed after a mild earthquake hit the Asian nation on Wednesday, injuring at least 80 people.

About 1,000 prisoners were housed in the 150-year-old building in Dhaka's Central Jail in the Bangladeshi capital.

At least 50 inmates have been sent to hospital, a witness told Reuters news agency.

There are about 8,000 prisoners in other buildings in the jail complex, officials said.

Some of the injuries were caused during a stampeded as inmates ran out of the building in panic, the officials said.

COUNTRY PROFILE At a glance: Bangladesh Provided by CountryWatch.com    CNN.com Asia More news from our Asia edition

The quake was measured at 3.82 on the Richter scale, its epicenter 191 km (119 miles) away from the Chittagong geophysical observatory in southeast Bangladesh.

It lasted for about 20 seconds the observatory said at about 0755 GMT.

Bangladesh experiences about 25 tremors every year.