Shallow epicentre to blame for SE Asia quake damage

A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.7 centred in the Sagaing region near the Myanmar city of Mandalay caused extensive damage in that country and also shook neighbouring Thailand on Friday.

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In Thailand, Indian CEO Ajay Mahajan initially thought it was something to do with the air pressure in the tyres of his car. Moments later, he realised that the entire bridge over which he was travelling was swaying.

Mahajan, who heads Aditya Birla Chemicals Thailand, had just left a lunch meeting Friday in Bangkok when the earthquake struck neighbouring Myanmar.

Myanmar lies on the boundary between two tectonic plates and is one of the world’s most seismically active countries, although large and destructive earthquakes have been relatively rare in the Sagaing region.

“The plate boundary between the India Plate and Eurasia Plate runs approximately north-south, cutting through the middle of the country,” said Joanna Faure Walker, an earthquake expert at University College London.

Sagaing has been hit by several quakes in recent years, with a 6.8 magnitude event causing at least 26 deaths and dozens of injuries in late 2012.

Roger Musson, honorary research fellow at the British Geological Survey, told the media that the shallow depth of the quake meant the damage would be more severe. The quake’s epicentre was at a depth of just 10 km (6.2 miles), according to the United States Geological Survey.

The USGS Earthquake Hazards Programme said fatalities could be between 10,000 and 1,00,000 people, and the economic impact could be as high as 70% of Myanmar's GDP.