Police officers cordoned off most the damaged ancient pagodas.Bagan, the centrepiece of Myanmar’s fast-growing tourism industry, has around 2,000-3,000 pagodas and temples, spread over a 42-sq km plain ringed by mist-covered mountains.
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Myanmar was hit by a major quake in 2012 when a magnitude 6.8 temblor, with its epicenter in central Myanmar, killed at least 26 people in Shwe Bo, a small town near the Mandalay region. He said some sites would be covered, and urged local government officials to be judicious in restricting tourist access to damaged sites. “They are in two completely different seismic zones”, John Bellinni of the U.S. Geological Survey said. “Most of the reports of damage have been to the pagodas in the area with dozens impacted”.
At least 230 temples and pagoda were damaged to some extent in five regions, said the ministry of religious and cultural affairs.
The USGS said the epicentre was about 145 km (90 miles) west of the city of Meiktila, and relatively deep at 84 km (52 miles).
Officials are bracing for the possibility of another natural disaster greater than the recent 6.8 magnitude quake in Myanmar.
A general view shows the damage at the Sulamani temple in Bagan, southwest of Mandalay, Myanmar, 25 August 2016.
“Though the estimate of damage has not been done, this is strong magnitude quake that causes great damage to life and property”, an official said.
Damage to the Buddhist temples – which are a major tourist attraction, and rival those in Cambodia’s Angkor Wat – appeared to be significant.
A report by BBC quoting the city’s department of archaeology said at least 66 stupas in Bagan were damaged.
The powerful quake was also felt in neighboring Bangladesh and several Indian states including West Bengal, Bihar and Assam, with thousands of panic-stricken people rushed outdoors following the jolts that lasted for seconds.
The Myanmar Times’ Nay Pyi Taw correspondent reported yesterday that residents of the capital also felt the seismic upheaval, which even disrupted a gathering related to Myanmar’s ongoing peace process.
The quake was felt over 600 miles away in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok where it sent ceiling lights swaying.
According to the Ministry of Religion and Culture, 171 pagodas were affected there and 19 were damaged elsewhere in the country.
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The 6.8 magnitude quake shook buildings across the Southeast Asia nation.
