Strong quake, aftershock strike Myanmar, a dozen feared dead
A 5.8-magnitude aftershock has hit northern Myanmar hours after a strong earthquake on Sunday morning damaged several Buddhist pagodas, collapsed a bridge and a gold mine and left 12 people feared dead. There are no initial reports of casualties or damage from the latest 5.8-magnitude aftershock, according to the US Geological Survey.
A 5.8-magnitude aftershock has hit northern Myanmar hours after a strong earthquake on Sunday morning damaged several Buddhist pagodas, collapsed a bridge and a gold mine and left 12 people feared dead.
There are no initial reports of casualties or damage from the latest 5.8-magnitude aftershock, according to the US Geological Survey. Earler on Sunday no casualties or major damage was reported in the nearest major population centre, Myanmar’s second-biggest city of Mandalay, about 117 kilometres south of the quake’s epicentre near the town of Shwebo.
An official from the Meteorological Department in the capital, Naypyitaw, said the magnitude-6.8 quake struck at 7.42am local time.
The area surrounding the epicentre is underdeveloped, and casualty reports were coming in piecemeal, mostly from local media. The region is a centre for mining of minerals and gemstones, and several mines were reported to have collapsed.
The biggest single death toll was reported by a local administrative officer in Sintku township — on the Irrawaddy River near the quake’s epicentre — who said six people had died there and 11 others were injured.
He said some of the dead were miners who were killed when a gold mine collapsed. He spoke on condition of anonymity because local officials are not usually allowed to release information to the media.
According to news reports, several people died when a bridge under construction across the Irrawaddy River east of Shwebo collapsed. The bridge linked the town of Sinku, 65 kilometres north of Mandalay on the east bank of the Irrawaddy, with Kyaukmyaung on the west bank.
The website of Weekly Eleven magazine said four people were killed and 25 injured when the bridge, which was 80 per cent built, fell. The local government announced a toll of two dead and 16 injured. All of the victims appeared to be workers.
However, a Shwebo police officer, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said just one person was confirmed dead from the bridge’s collapse, while five were still unaccounted for.
Weekly Eleven also said two monasteries in Kyaukmyaung collapsed, killing two people.
“This is the worst earthquake I felt in my entire life,” Soe Soe, a 52-year-old Shwebo resident, said by phone.
She said that the huge concrete gate of a local monastery collapsed and that several sculptures from another pagoda in the town were damaged.
Other damage was reported in Mogok, a major gem-mining area just east of the quake’s epicentre. Temples were damaged there, as were some abandoned mines.
“Landslides occurred at some old ruby mines, but there were no casualties because these are old mines,” Sein Win, a Mogok resident, said by phone.
Damage to centuries-old Buddhist temples is a common result of Myanmar earthquakes, but regarded by the superstitious as a bad omen. The so-called “umbrella” atop a stupa in Mogok had reportedly crashed down in Sunday’s quake. These uppermost parts of the brick domes usually have encased in them relics of the Buddha and small Buddha images, and sometimes jewels.
Sein Win said police were guarding the damaged stupa and its exposed relics.
A resident of Naypyitaw, which is 365 kilometres south of the quake’s epicentre, said several window panes of the parliament building had broken.
The epicentre is in a region frequently hit by small temblors that usually cause little damage.
The quake was felt in Bangkok, the capital of neighbouring Thailand. It comes just a week ahead of a scheduled visit to Myanmar by President Barack Obama. He will be the first US president to visit the one-time pariah nation, which is emerging from decades of military rule.
