[24th March 2011] Magnitude 7 quake hits Myanmar
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BANGKOK : A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck eastern Myanmar on Thursday, the US Geological Survey reported.
The epicentre, in the hills of Myanmar close to the borders with Thailand and Laos, was only 10 kilometres (six miles) deep.
It was located 90 kilometres (56 miles) north of Chiang Rai in Thailand and 235 kilometres (146 miles) north-north-east of Chiang Mai, Thailand's second city and a popular tourist destination.
No tsunami warning was issued, with seismologists saying the quake was too far inland to generate a devastating wave in the Indian Ocean.
- AFP/al -
so jialat! When is sg's turn?
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Myanmar can earthquake????
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Originally posted by Junyang700:
Myanmar can earthquake????
Now it's the time for Myanmar to shake the world !!!
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Originally posted by Junyang700:
Myanmar can earthquake????
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Over 60 killed in Myanmar quake
More than 60 people were killed and 90 injured after a strong earthquake struck Myanmar near its border with Thailand, an official said Friday, as some affected areas remained cut off.
The earthquake on Thursday, which the US Geological Survey (USGS) measured at magnitude 6.8, was felt as far away as Bangkok, almost 800 kilometres (500 miles) from the epicentre, Hanoi and parts of China.
A Myanmar official said dozens of people were killed in areas close to the epicentre and more than 240 buildings had collapsed.
"The death toll has increased to more than 60 now from those areas including Tarlay, Mine Lin and Tachileik townships," said the official.
"About 90 people were injured from those areas. The officials are still trying to reach some more affected areas. There are some places we cannot reach yet."
Tremors were felt as far away as Bangkok, almost 800 kilometres (500 miles) from the epicentre, Hanoi and parts of China.
Just across the border from Tachileik, Thai authorities said a 52-year-old woman was killed in Mae Sai district after a wall of her house collapsed.
Terrified residents across the region fled their homes, tall buildings swayed and hospitals and schools were evacuated during the tremors.
The quake struck 90 kilometres (60 miles) north of Chiang Rai and 235 kilometres (150 miles) north-northeast of Chiang Mai, Thailand's second city and a popular tourist destination. Tall buildings shuddered in Bangkok during the tremor.
Its epicentre was close to the borders with Thailand and Laos and was just 10 kilometres (six miles) deep.
Thailand's meteorological department on Friday said it had registered six large aftershocks following the initial quake.
Chiang Rai governor Somchai Hatayatanti told AFP late Thursday that efforts were made to evacuate people from tall buildings and he had ordered all patients from Mae Sai District Hospital to be taken to Chiang Rai.
The shaking was felt throughout China's southwest province of Yunnan, according to state-run China National Radio, but no casualties or structural collapses had been reported as of Friday morning.
However, the earthquake reportedly caused cracks in some homes and schools in and around the rugged Xishuangbanna region which borders Myanmar, and fear of aftershocks forced many people in the area to spend the night outdoors.
Some residents of the Vietnamese capital Hanoi fled their homes in panic when the quake shook the city.
Nguyen Thi Hong Hanh, 36, who lives on the 10th floor of a highrise, said her husband noticed their pet fish shaking in their tank.
"We all rushed to the street. All the other people in the apartments also rushed out," she said.
Hanoi felt the tremor at about magnitude 5.0, according to Dinh Quoc Van, deputy head of the earthquake monitoring department.
The quake comes two weeks after Japan was hit by a monster earthquake, which unleashed a devastating tsunami that left around 27,000 people dead or missing and triggered a crisis at its Fukushima nuclear plant.
No tsunami warning was issued after the Myanmar quake as US seismologists said it was too far inland to generate a devastating wave in the Indian Ocean.
The USGS initially recorded the quake as magnitude 7.0, but later revised it down to 6.8.
-- AFP
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Omg !!! Pray for myanmar.
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Is this the first time Myanmar got earthquake?
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No reports so far of S'poreans affected by Myanmar quake: MFA
SINGAPORE: The Singapore Embassy in Yangon on Friday says it has not received any reports of Singaporeans injured in the earthquake that struck Myanmar on Thursday.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement says the Embassy is also in touch with Myanmar authorities to see if assistance is needed.
MFA says it understands the Myanmar Red Cross and UN agencies are working with authorities on a joint damage assessment.
Singaporeans who require consular assistance may contact the Singapore Embassy in Yangon or the MFA Duty Officer 24-hours at:
Singapore Embassy in Yangon
238 Dhamazedi Road
Bahan Township, Yangon
Republic of the Union of Myanmar
Tel: 95-1 559001
Fax: 95-1 559922
email: [email protected])
- CNA/cc -
Survivors struggle in remote Myanmar quake areas
TARLAY, Myanmar : Survivors surveyed the wreckage of their Myanmar villages on Saturday as details of an earthquake that left 75 dead and reduced homes to rubble began to trickle out of remote areas.
The powerful 6.8 magnitude quake struck in the east of the country near the borders with Thailand and Laos late on Thursday and was felt as far away as the Vietnamese capital Hanoi.
Tachileik town and nearby Tarlay and Mong Lin in Myanmar's Shan state appeared to have been most severely affected by the quake, which flattened hundreds of houses and toppled monasteries and government buildings.
In Tarlay a few rescue teams were seen picking through the rubble of buildings, a bridge was destroyed and the roads were riven with huge cracks.
"The whole village is gone," said Nan Myint, tearfully explaining that she had lost her father, nephew and sister-in-law in the quake, which happened while she was in Yangon.
"I came back as soon as I heard about the earthquake. Some of my relatives are still in the hospital in Tachileik," she told AFP, adding authorities have supported her with a 350,000 kyats (about $400) payment.
"I have no idea what we should do in the future because my house is totally destroyed. I do not want to stay here."
The charity World Vision, which said around 15,000 people could have been affected in the worst-hit areas, is sending in first aid kits and tarpaulins to give emergency shelter for up to 2,500 families.
"This is an immediate concern as even last night there was rain," said Chris Herink, Myanmar country director in Yangon.
A Myanmar official said there had been no official increase in the toll from Friday's figure of 74. One woman was also killed in Thailand.
"There might be some places we still cannot reach because of the communication and transportation problems. The death toll could rise," the official added.
Strong aftershocks continued into Saturday.
A motorcycle taxi driver in Tachileik told AFP that things were "calm" in the town. "We were frightened in the beginning, but now we are trying to get back to normal," he said.
The region affected was already difficult to reach before the quake, access to the area by foreigners is restricted and the military dominated government tends to keep a tight grip on information.
The ruling military was widely criticised for refusing foreign assistance for weeks after cyclone Nargis wrought devastation across the Irrawaddy Delta in May 2008, leaving more than 138,000 people either killed or missing.
But Herink said his organisation, which is working in the affected areas with the Myanmar Red Cross and UNICEF, had found the government had been "proactively seeking our assistance and providing information to us".
A report by authorities in Tarlay, translated by the charity, described the emergency response, with soldiers helping to rescue people within the first hours.
The social welfare relief and resettlement minister went to Tachileik from the capital Naypyidaw on Saturday.
But one Tachileik resident, posting anonymously on an Internet forum, expressed frustration with the authorities, describing the town as "ruined".
"I hope there is not another earthquake because our situation is not very good as we cannot get any concrete assistance from the authorities."
Many people were getting their news from Thai radio, rather than sources in the country, while state media appeared keen to downplay the disaster, with the first mention of the earthquake on page 11 in Saturday's New Light of Myanmar.
"We never expected this kind of natural disaster... That is why I worry for my people," said Sai Thein Aung, a Shan Nationalities Democratic Party member of parliament for Tachileik.
The United States expressed its condolences, while Thailand donated money and said it was ready to offer additional assistance.
- AFP /ls