New Delhi (Mizzima) – The earthquake in northeastern Burma on Thursday killed at least 50 people with the toll rising, according to news reports on Friday afternoon.
A 6.8 magnitude quake hit in eastern Shan State, or the Golden Triangle area, which is known for its opium production, at 8:25 p.m. local time. According to agency reports, buildings shook as far away as Rangoon, Bangkok and Hanoi.
The US Geological Survey Department revised the magnitude of earthquake, with its epicentre in Keng Tong in eastern Shan State, to 6.8 from 7.
Taungyi-based Cherry FM broadcast on Friday morning that 11 people died in Tachilek, 29 in Mong Lin, and one in Watlone village, with a total of 45 injured in these areas. All estimates of deaths and injuries are preliminary at this stage, as authorities are still assessing the area.
The earthquake is said to have lasted for 15 minutes in Tarli Ward in Tarchilek Township, causing 130 buildings to collapse. A total of 133 buildings are reported to have collapsed in Mongli.At least 20 people were killed in Mong Pyak in eastern Shan State, local residents told Mizzima.
Mong Pyak is about 30 kilometres from Tachilek, the Burmese border town opposite Mae Sai in Northern Thailand.
According to the residents, the three towns of Mong Lein, Ta Lur and Mong Pyak were badly hit by the earthquake.
A witness told Mizzima that hospitals and government buildings in the townships collapsed and that many people were injured.
The Ta Lur bridge that links Tachilek and Keng Tung collapsed, he said. The bridge over the Nam Lein River provides the only road link between the two towns.
Concerned about further damage to the bridge, the local authorities have stopped people from using it. Travelers have to use ferries to cross the river and pick up another vehicle on the other side.
The government has sent doctors to attend to the injured and register the damage.
A Tachilek resident told Mizzima that people were too frightened to sleep in their homes on Thursday night. Further tremors at 6:25 am on Friday drove people out of their homes again.
According to the resident, casualty figures were not known. ‘The Tachilek residents did not suffer much but many people from rural areas, such as Mong Ko and Mak Kur Se … have been admitted to Tachilek hospital’.
According to another resident in Tachilek, two people were killed in the town. In Tarlay, 11 people died and 45 houses collapsed and four monasteries, including Parhlaing, Fonekha and Naamkham monasteries.
A resident of Ta Lur, located 26 miles from Tachilek, the Burmese border town opposite Mae Sai in northern Thailand, said the death toll in his area was about 40 people, with some bodies still trapped in rubble and people still missing.
‘There are only 10 houses which were not destroyed by the earthquake’, he said.
NGO workers, police and firemen were trying to rescue survivors and remove bodies, he said. The schools were destroyed.
The walls and entrance way to Siri Temple were also destroyed, he said. Currently, he said most villagers were seeking refuge next to the roads. NGO workers are giving villagers food.
He said reports indicated that all the buildings in Mong Lein village, seven miles from Ta Lur, were destroyed.
On the Thai side of the border, one woman was reportedly killed in Mai Sai when a wall in her house fell on her. Mai Sai Hospital is also reported to have been damaged and patients were evacuated from the building.
http://mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/5058-quake-toll-now-more-than-50-victims-in-burmas-shan-state.html
A file photo of Tar Lay village on the road to Kyaing Ton. A resident of nearby Tachilek said 11 people died, 45 houses collapsed and four monasteries, including Parhlaing, Fonekha and Naamkham monasteries, were damaged in the village during the earthquake Thursday night. Photo: Mizzima
The earthquake appears to have caused the most damage to Mong Pyak, 35 kilometres from the border town of Tachilek.
The US Geological Survey Department revised the magnitude of earthquake, with its epicentre in Keng Tong in eastern Shan State, to 6.8 from 7.
The earthquake is said to have lasted for 15 minutes in Tarli Ward in Tarchilek Township, causing 130 buildings to collapse. A total of 133 buildings are reported to have collapsed in Mongli.
Mong Pyak is about 30 kilometres from Tachilek, the Burmese border town opposite Mae Sai in Northern Thailand.
According to the residents, the three towns of Mong Lein, Ta Lur and Mong Pyak were badly hit by the earthquake.
A witness told Mizzima that hospitals and government buildings in the townships collapsed and that many people were injured.
The Ta Lur bridge that links Tachilek and Keng Tung collapsed, he said. The bridge over the Nam Lein River provides the only road link between the two towns.
Concerned about further damage to the bridge, the local authorities have stopped people from using it. Travelers have to use ferries to cross the river and pick up another vehicle on the other side. The government has sent doctors to attend to the injured and register the damage.
A Tachilek resident told Mizzima that people were too frightened to sleep in their homes on Thursday night. Further tremors at 6:25 am on Friday drove people out of their homes again.
According to the resident, casualty figures were not known. ‘The Tachilek residents did not suffer much but many people from rural areas, such as Mong Ko and Mak Kur Se … have been admitted to Tachilek hospital’.
According to another resident in Tachilek, two people were killed in the town. In Tarlay, 11 people died and 45 houses collapsed and four monasteries, including Parhlaing, Fonekha and Naamkham monasteries.
A resident of Ta Lur, located 26 miles from Tachilek, the Burmese border town opposite Mae Sai in northern Thailand, said the death toll in his area was about 40 people, with some bodies still trapped in rubble and people still missing.
‘There are only 10 houses which were not destroyed by the earthquake’, he said.
NGO workers, police and firemen were trying to rescue survivors and remove bodies, he said. The schools were destroyed.
The walls and entrance way to Siri Temple were also destroyed, he said. Currently, he said most villagers were seeking refuge next to the roads. NGO workers are giving villagers food.
He said reports indicated that all the buildings in Mong Lein village, seven miles from Ta Lur, were destroyed.
On the Thai side of the border, one woman was reportedly killed in Mai Sai when a wall in her house fell on her. Mai Sai Hospital is also reported to have been damaged and patients were evacuated from the building.
http://mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/5058-quake-toll-now-more-than-50-victims-in-burmas-shan-state.html
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