A powerful earthquake that toppled homes in northeastern Burma has killed at least 74 people, amid fears that the toll will mount as conditions in more remote areas become known.
The earthquake, which measured 6.8 on the Richter scale, struck on Thursday night.
It was centred just north of the town of Tachilek in the mountains along the Thai border, and it was felt as far away as Bangkok and the Vietnamese capital Hanoi.
Burma state radio announced yesterday that 74 people had been killed and 111 injured in the earthquake, but it was updating the total frequently. It said that 390 houses, 14 monasteries and nine government buildings were damaged.
The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported that 15 houses collapsed in the town of Tarlay, where state radio said 11 were killed and 29 injured.
Another two people were killed in Tachilek, including a four-year-old boy. It said six people were injured.
In Chiang Rai, the quake has also damaged houses, hospitals, buildings and historical sites.
The top of the 88-metre high brick ancient pagoda, Wat Phra That Chedi Luang, the tallest pagoda in Chiang Rai, collapsed and a pagoda containing a Buddha relic at Wat Phra That Chom Kitti, both in Chiang Saen district, has subsided and is tilted at 30 degrees.
The symbolic umbrella at the top of the pagoda was also damaged.
Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanavisit said the earthquakes damaged six hospitals in Chiang Rai. The damage at the Chiang Rai Prachanukhroh Hospital was most serious.
A 55-year-old woman, Hong Khamping, was killed when a concrete wall of her home in Mae Sai district in Chiang Rai collapsed on her.
Sura Khunkhongkhaphan, the director of Mae Sai Hospital, said five Burmese patients from Tachilek had been admitted.
Pagaimas Viera, chairman of the Thai-Burmese Cultural and Economic Committee, said the earthquakes shook her duty-free shop and hotel building in Tachilek violently.
Many products on display, particularly liquor, had fallen down. At her hotel, the Mekong Delta Boutique, glass window panes broke.
Most guests staying in hotels in Mae Sai also checked out from their hotels right after the earthquakes that also caused an electricity blackout in the district, said Ms Pagaimas.
The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand insisted the quake did not damage Thai dams, including the Srinakarind dam in Kanchanaburi located near the Srisawat faultline.
(bangkokpost)
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