A powerful magnitude-6.8 natural disaster struck central Myanmar on Wednesday, killing at least three people and damaging buildings and ancient monuments, authorities said. It was located fairly far below the Earth’s surface at a depth of about 84 kilometers (52 miles), it said.
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At least three people have been killed with the quake damaging several Buddhist temples in the ancient city of Bagan, police said.
It caused one building in Pwint Phyu township and one in Magway township to collapse, sources said.
There were no immediate reports of injuries, deaths or major damage.
People stand outdoors after they rushed out of their offices following tremors in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016.
The Bagan region is a major tourist attraction for the country. The temples, built between the 10th and 14th centuries, are revered.
In Sagaing Region’s Salingyi township, nine pagodas and stupas suffered damage, the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs said.
Ko Tin Ko Lwin, a resident of Yenanchaung, told Reuters that a pagoda that had been cracked before the quake had collapsed, while electricity poles and some trees were felled. “Most people ran out of their homes and offices”, said a policeman posted in the Capital complex area of Agartala.
The preliminary recording by United States Geological Survey (USGS) found the epicentre of the quake 25 km to the west of Chauka in Myanmar.
Vincent Panzani, a staff member in Pakokku for the aid agency Save the Children, said several of his colleagues from the area described the quake as the strongest they have experienced.
A resident of Yenanchaung township, about 40 miles from the epicenter, told the wire service the damaged pagoda had already been cracked before the natural disaster.
The quake was also felt several hundred miles away in Thailand’s capital of Bangkok, as well as in Bangladesh, India, Laos and China.
The quake was so high that it shook the buildings in Myanmar’s biggest city of Yangon and tremors were also felt in various regions across the country.
The quake caused high-rise buildings in Myanmar’s largest city Yangon to sway, as well as those in the Thai capital Bangkok.
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In April this year, a magnitude 6.9 quake in Myanmar saw dozens injured after they were trampled as people fleed for cover.
