At least three people were killed and dozens were feared trapped after a four-storey building collapsed in India, officials said late on Tuesday.

The state's deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak said three people had been killed in the accident in the northern city of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh state.

The state's director general of police (DGP) said the collapse appeared to be the effect of an earthquake that occurred earlier in the day.

A 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck western Nepal on Tuesday afternoon, around 440 kilometres from Lucknow.

"30-35 people must be trapped," DGP Director General of Intelligence Devendra Singh Chauhan told reporters.

Teams of police, and members of the National Disaster Response Force were looking for those trapped under the debris, Chauhan added.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath's office tweeted that "hospitals have been instructed to remain alert."

According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau, 1630 people were killed by structure collapses in the year 2021.

The accident comes just weeks after authorities in Joshimath, one of India's holiest towns, began evacuating panicked residents after hundreds of houses began developing cracks and sinking. (AFP)