Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
A POWERFUL 6.8 magnitude earthquake has struck central Myanmar, killing at least three people and damaging some 60 pagodas in the famous ancient city of Bagan, officials said.
The quake, which the US Geological Survey said hit at a depth of 84km (52 miles), was also felt across neighbouring Thailand, India and Bangladesh, sending panicked residents rushing onto the streets.
Two girls, aged 7 and 15, were killed in Magway region where the quake struck, according to Myanmar’s Ministry of Information.
A collapsed building in a nearby town also killed a 22-year-old man and injured one woman, local police told AFP.
Heavy damage was reported in Bagan – Myanmar’s most famous archaeological site and a major tourist destination some 30 kilometres north of the quake’s epicentre.
“About 60 pagodas in Bagan were damaged. Some were seriously damaged,” said Aung Kyaw, the director of Bagan’s culture department.
Crumbling
Photos showed clouds of dust billowing around some of the site’s massive temples, with bricks crumbling down their tiered facades.
A tourist police officer from Bagan said a Spanish holidaymaker was slightly hurt when the quake knocked her from the temple where she was watching the sunset.
Scaling Bagan’s ancient structures to watch the sun set over the city’s 2,500 monuments is a daily ritual among tourists and local pilgrims.
The temples, built between the 10th and 14th centuries, are revered in the Buddhist-majority country and a top draw for its growing tourism industry.
Myanmar, which has opened its doors to a rising tide of visitors since emerging from junta rule in 2011, is eager to see the ancient capital designated as a UNESCO world heritage site.
‘Still scared’
Soe Win, a local politician from Chauk – the riverside town closest to the epicentre – said the tremors were the worst he had experienced in years.
“More than eight pagodas in town collapsed,” the 50-year-old told AFP, referring to Chauk.
Two buildings collapsed as well, while some others were cracked. People in town are still scared.
Damage was also reported in the capital Naypyidaw some 200km away, with MP Thiri Yadanar posting photos on Facebook of cracked glass windows inside a parliament building.
The earthquake caused high-rise buildings in Myanmar’s largest city Yangon to sway, as well as those in the Thai capital Bangkok and the Indian city of Kolkata.
“Services of the underground railway have been suspended fearing aftershocks of the quake,” Kolkata Metro Railway spokesman Indrani Banerjee told AFP.
The quake was also felt throughout south and southwestern Bangladesh close to the border with Myanmar, with residents running outside.
At least 20 people were injured as workers tried to flee a building in the Savar industrial district outside Dhaka, ATN Bangla television reported.
“All of us ran to the streets leaving the houses and shops unsecured as the quake seemed very dangerous,” Nazmus Sakib, from the southern city of Chittagong near the Myanmar border, wrote on his Facebook wall.
Earthquakes are relatively common in Myanmar, although the country has not suffered a major one since 2012.
That powerful tremor – also of 6.8 magnitude – struck the centre of the country, killing 26 people and injuring hundreds.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Sympathy to the poor woman, but serious sympathy to the poor truck driver, this is becoming all to frequent in this country, he was only doing his days work, minding his own business.
That poor woman. Her whole life turned upside down on a morning where we all should be just enjoying the sunshine and then this happens. Devastated for her.
This is utterly horrible. Poor young mum. Poor wee kid. Words fail me
So tragic. How is that mother ever going to get over this. Rip little man. Watch over your mam.
Looks like it was deliberate. I could be wrong but it looks like attempted murder of the woman and murder/ suicide of the child and man. I know that road well and if he was from Lattin he would know it well too and would know not to overtake. Rip to both and my utmost sympathy to the mother of the little boy.
He’s not eastern European, his parents are Italian, but he was born and raised here,
Don’t like the look where this story is going
It’s easy to condemn but the poor man must have been in a very distressed state of mind to do something like that.
RIP.
Fcuk him. He just destroyed a mothers life and murdered her son. If he lives we would all be saying he should be locked up. But now that he died we feel sorry for him. And don’t get me started on the funeral service for this fella where the priests says “it’s a dark day”.. This man just murdered his son and attempted to murder his partner. S(umbag
Ricky.. Most murdering b@stards are in a distressed state of mind
When a mother murders her children society reaches out the hand of compassion and understanding.
Why is it not the same for fathers?
Ricky. Murdering mothers are worse than mothering dads
Just think about what happened here for a moment………and reflect on how this situation spiralled out of control to this point. The human tragedy involved.
Can we truly say we understand it and as such are in a position to make a judgement call one way or the other?
Sinead I hope you are never in a situation where your mind is so badly messed up by depression that you are not thinking rationally. Obviously this man was out of his mind doing this and it breaks my heart that a little boy has died and his mother had to go through such an assault, but nobody knows his circumstances and shouldn’t be quick to judge that he was ” evil” . I’m not saying I agree with what he did because I don’t , but with serious mental health problems a while back myself I know that your mind does not think normally . I certainly hope this is the case with him because I’d hate to think this WAS an act of pure evil
Oh no. That poor little boy. Whether the crash was an accident or deliberate, no child deserves that.
So sad, too much detail re the crash. Horrible set of circumstances
It’s just so sad to be hearing about theses suicides , people should always realised that life is 2 step backwards and 1 step forward , this carry on could be avoided… RIP to the little lad … So sad !
have your say