Famous Bagan pagodas damaged

Yangon, August 24

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A powerful 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar today, killing at least three people, including two children, and damaging pagodas in the ancient city of Bagan, officials said.

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

A fire department official from regional capital Magwe said two young girls were killed when a riverbank gave way in Yenanchaung township, south of Chauk.

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.

Chauk is about 35 km (20 miles) from Bagan, known as the "City of 4 Million Pagodas" and a major draw for Myanmar's nascent tourism industry. Yangon-based travel agent Amy Saw, who had been in touch with her firm's Bagan office, said some of the pagodas there had been damaged, and the Ministry of Religious Affairs put the number sustaining some kind of damage at 65.

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 is eager to see the ancient capital designated as a UNESCO world 

heritage site. — AFP