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12 feared dead in strong Myanmar quake
Source: Agencies |
November 12, 2012, Monday
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A strong earthquake of magnitude-6.8 struck northern Myanmar yesterday, collapsing a bridge and a gold mine, damaging several old Buddhist pagodas and leaving as many as 12 people feared dead.
A slow release of official information left the actual extent of the damage unclear after yesterday morning's strong quake. Myanmar has a poor official disaster response system.
Myanmar's second biggest city of Mandalay reported no casualties or major damage as the nearest major population center to the main quake. Mandalay lies about 117 kilometers south of the quake's epicenter near the town of Shwebo.
Smaller towns closer to the main quake's epicenter were worse hit. The area surrounding the epicenter is underdeveloped, and casualty reports were coming in piecemeal, mostly from local media. The region is a center for mining of minerals and gemstones, and several mines were reported to have collapsed.
The evening news on state television showed Vice President Sai Maul Hkam visiting the town of Thabeikyin, where the report said damage included 102 homes, 21 religious buildings, 48 government offices and four schools.
The town, a gold-mining center, is near the quake's epicenter and had casualties of three dead and 35 injured. The report brought total officially confirmed casualties to six killed and 64 injured.
An official from Myanmar's Meteorological Department said the magnitude-6.8 quake struck at 7:42am local time.
The US Geological Society reported a magnitude-5.8 aftershock later yesterday, but there were no initial reports of new damage or casualties.
The biggest single death toll was reported by a local administrative officer in Sintku township - on the Irrawaddy River near the quake's epicenter - who said six people had died there and another 11 were injured.
He said some of the dead were miners who were killed when a gold mine collapsed. He spoke on condition of anonymity because local officials are normally not allowed to release information to the media.
Rumors circulated in Yangon of other mine collapses trapping workers, but none of the reports could be confirmed.
According to news reports, several people died when a bridge under construction across the Irrawaddy River collapsed east of Shwebo. The bridge linked the town of Sintku, 65 kilometers north of Mandalay on the east bank of the Irrawaddy, with Kyaukmyaung on the west bank.
The website of Weekly Eleven magazine said four people were killed and 25 injured when the bridge, which was 80 percent finished, fell. The local government announced a toll of two dead and 16 injured. All of the victims appeared to be workers.
A slow release of official information left the actual extent of the damage unclear after yesterday morning's strong quake. Myanmar has a poor official disaster response system.
Myanmar's second biggest city of Mandalay reported no casualties or major damage as the nearest major population center to the main quake. Mandalay lies about 117 kilometers south of the quake's epicenter near the town of Shwebo.
Smaller towns closer to the main quake's epicenter were worse hit. The area surrounding the epicenter is underdeveloped, and casualty reports were coming in piecemeal, mostly from local media. The region is a center for mining of minerals and gemstones, and several mines were reported to have collapsed.
The evening news on state television showed Vice President Sai Maul Hkam visiting the town of Thabeikyin, where the report said damage included 102 homes, 21 religious buildings, 48 government offices and four schools.
The town, a gold-mining center, is near the quake's epicenter and had casualties of three dead and 35 injured. The report brought total officially confirmed casualties to six killed and 64 injured.
An official from Myanmar's Meteorological Department said the magnitude-6.8 quake struck at 7:42am local time.
The US Geological Society reported a magnitude-5.8 aftershock later yesterday, but there were no initial reports of new damage or casualties.
The biggest single death toll was reported by a local administrative officer in Sintku township - on the Irrawaddy River near the quake's epicenter - who said six people had died there and another 11 were injured.
He said some of the dead were miners who were killed when a gold mine collapsed. He spoke on condition of anonymity because local officials are normally not allowed to release information to the media.
Rumors circulated in Yangon of other mine collapses trapping workers, but none of the reports could be confirmed.
According to news reports, several people died when a bridge under construction across the Irrawaddy River collapsed east of Shwebo. The bridge linked the town of Sintku, 65 kilometers north of Mandalay on the east bank of the Irrawaddy, with Kyaukmyaung on the west bank.
The website of Weekly Eleven magazine said four people were killed and 25 injured when the bridge, which was 80 percent finished, fell. The local government announced a toll of two dead and 16 injured. All of the victims appeared to be workers.
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