6.9-magnitude quake strikes Myanmar, tremors felt in India, China
An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale has hit Myanmar, the US Geological Survey says, with tremors felt in neighboring India and China.
According to the US Geological Survey, the quake, whose epicenter was 134 kilometers (214 miles) deep, struck some 396 kilometers north-northwest of Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw, on Wednesday night.
Witnesses said that terrified residents ran out of their homes and offices as buildings shook in Myanmar’s main city of Yangon and several other major cities.
Cho Cho Win, a lawmaker from Mawlite in Sagaing region, some 100 kilometers away from the epicenter of the quake, said she felt rough tremors that lasted for several minutes.
No reports of damage or casualties have been received yet, but it may be because of a lack of access to quake-hit areas at night.
“There may be some destruction and damage. But it’s difficult to know the [extent] of destruction at night time,” Win said.
Several of the impoverished Southeast Asian country’s outlying provinces, including the area where the earthquake occurred, have poor infrastructure and medical and communications systems.
Meanwhile, reports also indicate that tremors were felt as far away as the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka and the northeastern Indian cities of Kolkata, Shillong, Guwahati and Patnam. Local residents in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal State, reported seeing cracks appearing in buildings following the strong quake.
According to Chinese official news agency, Xinhua, shaking was also experienced in Tibet and Lhasa.
In March 2011, more than 70 people died when a powerful earthquake hit Myanmar near the borders with Laos and Thailand.
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