The quake, which the agency said struck at a depth of 84 kilometres, swayed high-rise buildings in the Thai capital of Bangkok, AFP journalists reported.
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At least 94 brick pagodas in Bagan were damaged, the Ministry of Religious and Cultural Affairs said in a statement.
“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.
The shaking was also felt hundreds of miles away in Bangladesh, and India where people ran out of buildings into parking lots.
The local MP Han Zaw Win of Pakokku township said one man was also killed in the Pakokku.
The Bagan Archaeological Department has cited damage to 187 pagodas and temples across the Bagan plain, including iconic favorites Sulamani, Ananda, Htilominlo, Myazedi, Shwesandaw, Lawkananda and Dhamma Yazaka, and the murals at Ananda Oakkyaung.
The epicentre of the natural disaster was 58 km deep below the earth’s surface at Chauk, a small town in north-central Myanmar, the National Centre for Seismology said.
He urged the relevant ministries to renovate them as soon as possible, diverging from the views of the state counsellor and architectural experts, who said they should be renovated carefully.
Restoration work was carried out on numerous damaged pagodas in the 1990s when a military junta ruled Myanmar, but was criticized by art historians and preservationists worldwide for its use of modern materials and scant adherence to original architectural styles. The Fire Department and police in the town of Pakkoku – the biggest of the towns close to the epicentre – said many buildings were cracked and it has sent several trucks to assess the damage.
The vast site is the country’s premier attraction for tourists, who can view a panorama of temples stretching to the horizon flanked by the mighty Irrawaddy River, an especially impressive experience at sunset.
The victim was killed when a building in Magway collapsed.
Elsewhere, damage appeared to have been relatively light, although reports were still filtering through as night fell. In Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, people were seen coming out onto the streets while the underground city railway service was disrupted.
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The 6.8 magnitude quake shook buildings across the Southeast Asia nation.
