Earthquake strikes central Myanmar; tremors felt in Northeast, Bengal, Bihar

Quake shook buildings in Myanmar's biggest city of Yangon and in other towns and cities, witnesses said.

August 24, 2016 04:37 pm | Updated November 17, 2021 02:30 am IST - YANGON

A powerful earthquake, measuring 6.8 on the Richter Scale, hit north-central Myanmar on Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported, with tremors felt around the region.

The quake, which the agency said struck at a depth of 84 km, swayed high-rise buildings in the Thai capital of Bangkok, AFP journalists reported.

According to latest reports, at least three people including two children, have been killed. The quake also damaged some of the famous pagodas in the Southeast Asian nation's ancient capital of Bagan.

The epicentre was near Chauk, a town on the Irrawaddy River several hundred kilometres northwest of Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw.

oe Win, a regional MP from the township in Magway region, told AFP the tremors lasted for several minutes.

"There was also some sound as well. A pagoda collapsed in Salay and a building also collapsed," he told AFP, adding that he has not yet heard of any casualties.

The USGS estimated that the impact would be "relatively localised" but noted that many buildings in the region are "highly vulnerable" to earthquake shaking.

Earthquakes are relatively common in Myanmar, though the country has not seen a major quake since 2012.

The last major quake struck in a nearby region in April and caused minor damages but no casualties.

In India, tremors were felt in Bihar, West Bengal and Northeast, spreading panic among people

PTI, quoting the National Centre for Seismology, a unit of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, said the epicentre of the quake was in Myanmar and it occurred at 4:04 p.m.

The Northeast is one of the most earthquake prone regions in the world.

(With inputs from AFP, PTI)

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.