Very strong shallow damaging earthquake close to Chiang Rai, Thailand

Last update: May 5, 2014 at 2:17 pm by By Armand Vervaeck

 

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Update 14:08 UTC : The Airport of Chiang Rai is functioning again like nothing happened. What with an eventual strong aftershock while a plane is lifting or landing? Has anyone looked into this risk ? This was a major earthquake at very close distance from an important airport! A very strong  aftershock is a real possibility as the ground layers have to find a new balance !

Image courtesy and copyright @LucianaCiolfi

Update 13:52 UTC : It is currently 20:52 in Thailand. The evening and night will be an additional backlash for SAR (Search and Rescue) teams and Civil Defense personnel.

Update 13:47 UTC : It was in the north part though .. in Chiang Rai, Thailand .. but lots of roads damaged and houses/buildings fallen - This does not look comforting at all – we are still looking for news of eventual injuries. When we get it (hope we dont find it) we will write it in an update

Update 13:30 UTC : A reader of wiangpapao just wrote : 2 hours later still have some aftershocks

Update 13:19 UTC : We have found out that the Chiang Rai hospital has been damaged also (mainly cracks in walls). Useless to say that there where widespread blackouts

Update 12:53 UTC : People in the epicenter area are reporting a lot of aftershocks

Update 12:45 UTC : Reports which we received from our own readers and from close to the epicenter. Mixed reports which are due to the house or office they are living in and also the underground of their houses. We truly thank our readers for sharing their experiences with our readers.

Click on this image to see it in full size

Update 12:45 UTC : reports of fallen ceilings in Chiang Rai Airport and in residential houses

Update 12:26 UTC : So far only images and reports of a lot of damage (will run into the millions of $). No word of any injuries or even worse fatalities so far.

Update 12:19 UTC : On some places the ground has been ruptured totally as can be seen here on the Facebook photo from https://www.facebook.com/stephendarby77?fref=photo (the way to his house !)

Important Update 12:08 UTC : Based on the USGS data, Max Wyss who is specialized in the theoretical calculation of possible fatalities / injured, he reports that ESTIMATE OF HUMAN LOSSES = Injured Exp. min/max: 300/2000 and Fatalities Exp. min/max: 100/600.

Update 12:04 UTC : The picture below (courtesy Twitter account @Mtjunerr) shows what we mentioned a little earlier. It will certainly be the first one in a series of many.

Update 12:02 UTC : Some experience reports are being send in from Myanmar, but we believe (100% sure) that it will have been felt also in neighboring China (Yunnan) and Laos.

Update 11:57 UTC : The historic earthquake list for Thailand is giving us hope.

Update 11:45 UTC : What we expected has been confirmed. This earthquake is a dangerous strike/slip earthquake where the main movement of the ground is horizontal. Houses who are not build with an earthquake resistance have a hard time to survive in the epicenter area.  The movement can either be from the North-West to the South-East or or from the South-West to the North-East (white plane to the orange planes)

Update 11:38 UTC : At ER we think that the shaking values in the (theoretical) USGS tables below are a little exaggerated based on the testimonies we receive from Chiang Rai (about 1 point)

Update 11:34 UTC : Earthquake-report.com reader messages are giving us hope that the damage will not be widespread as a number of people living in Chiang Rai are telling us that they had NO damage + the MMI values they are telling us are confirming this hope : Max. strong shaking

Update 11:29 UTC : Earthquake-report.com does expect certainly a lot of damage and even injuries based on the current seismological data.

Update 11:28 UTC : Good News AND Very bad news : The preliminary Magnitude has been decreased by USGS to M6.0 BUT the depth has now been set at only 7 km. That is exstremely shallow and makes this earthquake much more dangerous !

Update 11:20 UTC : Following EMSC is the epicenter at only 11 km from Chiang Rai !

356 km NW of Vientiane, Laos / pop: 196,731 / local time: 18:08:47.0 2014-05-05
11 km S of Chiang Rai, Thailand / pop: 78,756 / local time: 18:08:47.0 2014-05-05

Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : 6
Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2014-05-05 18:08:47
GMT/UTC Time : 2014-05-05 11:08:47
Depth (Hypocenter) : 2 km
Depth and Magnitude updates in the list below.

Share your earthquake experience (I Have Felt It) with our readers.
Click on the “I Felt It” button behind the corresponding earthquake. Your earthquake experience is not only important for science, but also for people in the area as well as our global readership.

SRC	Location	UTC Date/time	M	D	INFO
EMSC	Thailand	May 05 11:08	6.0	2	MAP I Felt It INFO
Chiang Mai - lasted 20 to 30 seconds .. then happened again less chiang mai - no property damage just moderate shaking like on a small, still boat hit by large waves. lasted maybe 10-20 seconds. didn't realize what it was until it was over. very slowy and gentle rocking like someone shaking you to wake you up. Chiangmai - Felt light quake at around 6 pm Chiang Mai - things fell off some shelves..lasted about 6 seconds peang luang - The building shaking. Lampost shaking obviously. Can feel the road crawling. Chiang Mai - Rolling quake lasting slightly over 1 minute at 18:10 hrs Bangkok time. Slightly less violent than the Sylmar quake felt 30 miles away. 1 aftershock just felt, 18:20 Mae Sariang, Mae Hon Song - it wasn't strong but we felt it. CIANGMAI, NORTHERN THAILAD - NO DAMAGE. AT FIRST JUST A HINT OF A QUAKE. THEN A MEDIUM JOLT WHICH LASTED 3 OR 4 SECONDS. i AM FROM CALIFORNIA SO I AM USED T THESE. Chiang Mai - At 18:09 approx local time ... San Sai. Chiang Mai - 18:18 local time. No damages, car alarms went on, lasted for about 7 to 9 seconds. ban sai moon - no dammage chiang mai - moderate shaking of the building, it is a new 6 story apartment. no visible damage Bangkok - Was on the 24th floor of the hotel, and everyone in the lounge felt the shake. CHIANGMAI - STRONG BANGING NOISE, TWO TREMORS ABOUT 10 SEC. APART, TWO-STORY HOUSE VISIBLE SHAKING Chiang Mai - No damage but the house was shaking back and forth for about 30 secs chiang mai - Building was shaking in the old city and people were moving out to the street. Nothing falling but the shake lasted a good 10 seconds or so. Very gentle to start then a series of good shakes followed by some gentle swaying. Shop signs were swinging. phitsanulok - I at 2nd floor and felt shaking around 10-15 sec. Fang, Chiang Mai - I heard a rumble like thunder and then the house began to vibrate. Next the ground started swaying back and forth and continued for about ten seconds. A few minutes later, the ground swayed again. I felt two after shocks. Chiang Mai - 14 floor condo shaking gently at first, then stronger. Not enough to knock glass bottle over. Around ~1 minute altogether. Chiang Mai - made our motor scooter shimmy about 3 ft. Doi Saket - 18.00 pm Lamphun - no damage.... felt like two separate quakes. Bangkok - On the 24th floor of building in downtown Bangkok. Felt the building move and door and curtain were moving around us. Pai - Windows and doors shaking very briefly bangkok - The chandeliers were shaking and u could tell the ground was moving left and right. If you went out to the balcony and put your hand on the rim you could see it moving. We had headaches. The strongest earthquake i've ever felt, 17 storeys high . Bangkok - light shaking for several seconds. Chiangmai - Light tremor inside house for about 3-5 seconds Chiang Mai - The beds were shaking and people ran out to the streets. Pai - No damage, shaking of bamboo hut and waves in the water of a pond Lampang - Very strong shaking but nothing move or fell from table Muang Nan - Felt the bed shake, did not know what it was, lasted around 10 seconds. Bangkok - In my hotel room and suddenly the all room was shaking for about 10 seconds at 6:10/6:15 pm Thai local time Doi Saket - No breakdowns Yangon - Our office (8 storey building) was gently swaying at about 5.40 pm, local time. no damage that I am aware of Chiang Kham - I felt my whole house shake strongly. However my house is on stilts so it might have made it seem much more dramatic than it was. I was worried the house would collapse so I ran out. Felt a smaller wave several minutes later. Bangkok - Been it lots of quakes. Not strong in BKK but unmistakable. 20-30 seconds (on 32nd floor. 3 people in different rooms all felt it about 18:20 bangkok - building swaying approx. 1 minute Song, Phrae - No damage, gentle shaking for almost 2 minutes. One brief aftershock about 18.15 or so for 10-15 seconds. Bangkok - Light shake for 3 seconds felt in the hotel on 27 th floor Sunsai - Waves in the pond, no damage Bangkok - I felt the room sway for a bit. I looked out my window and my friend was looking out as well, and he asked if i felt it. I wasn't sure if it was just me. Baan Du (Chiang Rai) - Loud rumbling followed by about 15 seconds of shaking. Many aftershocks still following at least every couple of minutes. Chiang mai - No damage to property, floor was shaking and moving quiet strong, for about 20 sec, like a boat on a wavy sea Chiang Mai - longish shaking Chiangmai - No damage. Pool lost some water Bangkok - On the 15th floor. I felt the building sway and water was moving side to side in the fridge. This was felt around 6.20. chiang mai - scary Bangkok - 18th story building, blinds and curtains moving, lasted a good 30 seconds+ Maesot - I felt shaking on my chair twice. No building damage Chiang Mai - secousse d'environ 10 à 20 secondes en deux périodes espacées de quelques secondes... effet de glissement latéral des habitations. Chiang Mai - effet de glissement latéral des habitations... deux secousses d'une dizaine de secondes chacune, espacée de quelques secousses... pas de dégâts matériels. mae sai - just one shake lasting about one minute. No after shocks. Happened 30 minutes ago. Mae Taeng, Chiang Mai - Heavy wooden sculpture could be seen shaking north-south about 2-3 inches for about 20-30 seconds. No damage. Chaiphrakan - The water of the swimminpool ex it from the edges Chiang Mai - For About 30 seconds severe shaking but no. daagde, a real strange experience, everything was moving but it was moving with me, not. around me, very strange. No damage. Chiang Mai - Very scary for me. Have felt tremors before. Chiang Mai - Geen zichtbare schade, derde verdieping van pand danste rustig rond..amplitude ca. 25 cm Chiang Mai - this was my first earthquake, it was quite amazing. I was behind my laptop when all of a sudden, the ground started shaking, and books fell off my shelves. Chiang Mai - Porcelain jars fell over, one broke. Many items shifted around. On fifth floor of building next to the river close to downtown, frightening. Lampang - 610pm. Lying on bed and bed shakes violently. Thought Pope JP2 or Benedict sent the devil to shake my bed. Chiang Mai - I was awaken from my afternoon nap because the entire bed was shaking. Pai - House was shaking, power lines swinging. Chiang moi, chiang mai - Shook for 10 to 20 seconds, one broken bottle and a broken glass. Chiang Mai - Derde verdieping danste langzaam en rustig, amplitude ca. 10 cm. Bangkok - I am in condo 27th floor. I felt like vomiting, spinning. Chandelier moving, curtain moving. Maesot - The chair I was sitting on was shaking Chiang Mai - 10 seconds…significant shaking, expected cracks but in the end no damage found. Chiang Mai - at first I thought there was an animal on the roof, because of the noise. Then the windows started shaking and the whole building swayed slightly. So I ran outside, 20 seconds later another one came when I was sitting down, a wave like sensation rippled through the whole garden and the plants shaking, birds screaming and the building trembling. Bangkok - on the 25th floor felt swaying more than shaking. heard the hangers on the clothes drying rack clanking together 20+ sec. San Phranet, San Sai, Chiang Mai - No damage, but the whole building was shaking, all the furniture and tables. For about 5-10 seconds (hard to tell). But my two cats were sleeping outside like nothing happened. chiang mai - Shook building pretty good for about 2 min Chiang Mai - Only a small shaking that lasted a few minutes. Sofa and some furniture was shaking but other than that, we had no problems. Bangkok - Im on the 23rd floor of the building so i really felt the shaking and in fact heard the creaking sound of oneof the bedroom doors. Probably lasted about 30 secods. Scary, as all earthquakes are Chiang Mai - It was shaking at 6.10 pm today and can feel very strong. phayao - secousse de 20 secondes environ Chiang Mai - On the hotel 3rd floor. Felt 2 separate shakings, the 2nd one stronger. Electricity went down for 2 seconds. Huay xai - No damages. Wifi works fine. Shaking bed and curtains etc for 10 seconds. Chiang Mai - Sounded like thunder. Then noticed room shaking slightly for about 20 seconds or so. The shaking and noise woke her from her sleep. Mae Sot, Thailand - no damage - just felt like I was being rocked a little while lying in bed :) Chiang Mai - Just got out of the shower: wet marble floor, landed on my mid-spine.Looked up on the internet. 6.0 or so. Hope it's not a before-quake. Ouch. Chiang Mai - It shook so hard that I wake up Mae Chan - For about 30 sec the house was shaking, no damage. People in village are not alarmed, they say it was a small one. Chiangmai - whole street ran outside, cars swaying, some broken pottery. scary. thankfully it is quiet now. Chiang mai - Around 6:09pm, more than 30 sec, it's first experience of strong earthquake never before hang dong - 10 15 seconds , then repeated . house shook computer monitor cables came loose. Chiang Mai - It swayed the building enough to have furniture inside the apartment move around. No visible damages discovered so far. 5 May 2014 - 17:05hrs lamphun - House rattled a bit Maechan - Het begon met een paar lichtere schokken spoedig daarop gevolgd door het zicht op een huis dat om je heen aan een dansje besig is. Om 18.00 uur, een paar redelijke naschokken daarna lijkt het over te zijn Bangkok - Apartment on 21st floor of (32 floor) high rise rocked to and fro. Hanging light fixtures and clothing swayed for about two minutes. No damage in apartment. Chiang Mai - Ground was swaying, moved my tables apart, I could even see the windows trembling but no damage. Overall lasted about 30 seconds, 2 strong jolts Mae Ai - Uma forte explosão e depois um tremor forte. O primeiro tremor deve ter durado uns 20 segundos, tudo tremeu. O segundo tremor veio uns 6 minutos depois, mas já menor. A terra continuou balançando levemente por alguns minutos. Chiangmai - no damaged Phaoyao - Felt shaking, could hear window rattle, walked out of the house ASAP, live in phaoyao t Bangkok - 16th floor swaying curtains about 6 inches and rocking of bed moving for 3 seconds- staff on the ground floor didnt feel it. Got dressed quick but all is well uttaradit - no damage, chair moved back and forth and the floor swayed. Lasted about 5 seconds Bangkok - Live on 15th floor of steel reinforced concrete building. Felt a movement from NE to SW and it seemed to last in excess of 30-40 seconds. No damage. Chiang Mai - Moderate shaking lasting about 6 seconds. Some items fell of shelf. I would say the shake was north-south. Trees and electric poles shaking CHIANG Mai - Shaking of Windows & objects in house, my wife was indoors and had noticeable experience. I was in garden with dogs and thought I was having dizzy spell - notable ground movement. Caused a swell in the swimming pool with water coming over sides. Hang Dong Chiang mai - I felt my bed shaking and when i stood up i felt the ground shaking. Bangkok - I live on 18th floor. I heard a 'crack' noise and then felt whole building oscillate. Curtains and light fittings moving quite a bit. Last around 30 seconds. Scary!! Bangkok - Staying on the 26th floor. My crystal chandelier swayed for about two minutes. I could feel the movement for about 20 secs. Nothing damaged. Mae Salaab , Sarapee, Chiang Mai - doors started banging, Tv nearly bounced off its table and finally whole house and floor shaking....lasted for a couple of minutes, no visible damage when finished Chiang Mai - Earth shook for about 10 seconds. Have felt two aftershocks so far. Doi Saket - Slight shaking of ground. Made tv move, but nothing bad. Bangkok - 17th floor-light to moderate swaying for 30 seconds. chiang mai - My cup of water was shaking and the pool next to the restaurant was over flowing. It was weird how me and my family was talking about earthquake and it has just happened. Bangkok - On 20th Floor of condo building. felt building move a lot! very scary. blinds swung from side to side. building moved for a couple mins. Sansai,Chiang Mai - Windows started rattling then concrete floor was undulating, 2nd wave caused roof tiles to rattle significantly for about 10 seconds. No aftershock felt Bangkok - We felt swaying and felt nauseous. Phayao city - we were sitting down and felt shake for about 1 minute. there seems to be no damage to any buildings but small items within the house have broken. no signs of people hurt. pai - Aftershock Maetaeng - The quake appeared to last 60 to 90 seconds here (45 km north of Chiangmai) with the second shake stronger than the first shake. No apparent damage here or at our property in Chiangrai but Mae Suay may have had significant damage. Chiang Mai - Die Wände, die Türrahmen, der Stuhl und die Regale haben das erste Mal für 1-2 Sekunden gezittert. Es war so nach 18h03 und vor 18h10. Nach einer Pause von gefühlten 2-3 Sekunden war es deutlicher und vielleicht 3-4Sekunden lang, die schmalen hohen Lautsprecher schwankten an der Spitze um 3-4 cm. Ich bin sicherheitshalber mit meinem Handy auf die Straße gegangen. Nur die unmittelbaren Nachbarn kamen auch aus dem Haus. Die Straße der Siedlung war leer, viele waren wohl nicht zu Hause oder h Chiang Mai - Schwankender Boden. Gebäude schwankten stark. Leute aufgeregt auf der Straße. Bangkok - Nothing is damaged but desk and curtains was moving. I can feel that floor is moving a bit.
GEOFON	Thailand	May 05 11:08	6.2	10	MAP I Felt It
chiang rai - house shook but no cracks in the walls chiang rai - many aftershocks, still coming Chiang Rai - The quake happened quickly, with no damage, but the house slightly waved a bit, and the water sloshed about in the pool. A few pictures on the walls were moved a bit. All in all, not severe, and hopefully it was a light quake with no injuries. Chiang Rai - No damage Chiang Rai - Strong shaking for around 15 seconds - our small, two storey building in central Chiang Rai was moving quite a lot - followed by a couple of noticeable after-shocks minutes apart and a few more light ones since. There are now plenty of emergency sirens sounding in the distance. No visible damage to our building though. Chiang Rai - Very strong shaking - items fell off tables and shelves. No structural damage. Several after shocks with moderate to light shaking. Chiang Rai - Très fortes fibrations recenties Chiang Rai - Très fortes vibrations ressenties Chaing Rai - Fort tremblement, pas de degat apparemment dans la maison, peur Chiang Rai - Earthquake seemed to last less than ten seconds. Moderate shaking, but nothing fell down in the house, likely due to the shortness of the quake. Went out in the street to talk to neighbors and my girlfriend went back inside to get something and ran back outside a minute later saying it was happening again, but we didn't feel it at all on the street. chaing rai - encore une bref secousse à l'instant chiangrai - Lasted about 15 seconds. The whole house shook and shook but no visable damage. Chiang Rai - House shook for about 15 seconds... a few items fell of shelves onto the floor. No damage from what I can tell. 8 shocks in total. All less powerful than the previous. However, the 8th was about the same intensity as the 4th. Chiang Rai - Strong shaming for about 15-20 seconds. No damage here. Still experiencing light after shocks as we speak. Kind of scary. First real earthquake I've been in. chiang rai - walls are cracked on all floors....fridge & wardrobe moved a few inches....too severe shaking to get out of fourth floor apt....just felt fourth or fifth aftershock wiangpapao - 2 hours later still have some aftershocks Chiang Rai - Nouvelle réplique à 20h35 locale Chiang Rai - Still small shakes 3 hours later. Items falling, intense shaking, but no apparent structural damage.
USGS	Mae Lao, Thailand	May 05 11:08	6.0	7	MAP I Felt It
Yangon - Slight swaying on 15th floor. Chandelier in main lobby was swaying afterward. Quake lasted 5 seconds Huay xai - Geen schade, licht beving van 10 sec huay xai - a gentle shaking for about 20s. I was near a wat when the monks were praying. it got us a bit scared and ran out to open space. A few weak aftershocks, but no damage to buildings or road have been seen. Bangkok - Felt floor moving

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