Earthquake of 6.8 magnitude strikes Myanmar, tremors felt in eastern India

Yangon, August 24

A powerful 6.8 magnitude earthquake shook central Myanmar on Wednesday, killing at least three people including two children, local officials said, and damaging some of the famous pagodas in the Southeast Asian nation's ancient capital of Bagan.

The quake, which the US Geological Survey said hit at a depth of 84 km, was also felt across neighbouring Thailand, Bangladesh and India, sending panicked residents rushing onto the streets.

One person was killed and another injured when a tobacco processing factory collapsed in the town of Pakkoku, to the north, the duty officer at the local fire department said.

There were no other confirmed casualties, and early reports suggested limited damage overall.

"A 22 year-old man was killed when a nearby building collapsed during the earthquake," he said, adding that a woman was injured.

A tourist police officer reported damage to several temples in Bagan - Myanmar's prized ancient capital, some 30 km north of the epicentre.

"Some famous pagodas were damaged during the earthquake," he said, adding that some of the damage was "serious".

The officer, who requested anonymity, said a Spanish tourist was slightly hurt when she fell from a temple while watching the sunset.

Scaling Bagan's ancient Buddhist monuments, of which there are more than 2,500, is a daily ritual among tourists and local pilgrims who flock to the site.

The temples, built between the 10th and 14th centuries, are revered in the Buddhist-majority country.

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.

The USGS estimated that the quake's impact would be "relatively localised" but noted that many buildings in the region are "highly vulnerable" to shaking.

The earthquake caused high-rise buildings in Myanmar's largest city Yangon to sway, as well as those in the Thai capital Bangkok.

The quake was also felt throughout south and southwestern Bangladesh close to the border with Myanmar, with television footage showing residents running outside.

At least 20 people were injured as workers tried to flee a building in the industrial area of Savar 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.

In India, tremors of which were felt in eastern India in the cities of Kolkata, Patna and Guwahati, although there were no reports of damage.

Panicked people came out on the roads, vacating shopping malls, houses and multistoried buildings as the jolts were felt a little after 4 pm

Metro railway services were halted as a precautionary measure and passengers asked to disembark at the nearby stations.

The services resumed after some time after the tracks were inspected and found undamaged.

At the state secretariat Nabanna in neighbouring Howrah, the employees rushed out as the tremors lasting a few seconds shook furniture.

Soon after, an announcement was made over the secretariat public address system that the offices would be over for the day.

The tremors were also felt in a number of districts in southern and northern West Bengal.

No causality has been reported so far. The quake was also felt in Jharkhand.

Earthquakes are relatively common in Myanmar, although the country has not suffered a major one since 2012. — Agencies