Burma Earthquake Kills at Least 75

Added by Elivia DeVries on March 26, 2011

A 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit Burma on Friday, killing at least 75 people, with tremors felt as far away as Bangkok, Hanoi and China.

The quake struck some 90 kilometres north of Chiang Rai and 235 kilometres north-northeast of Chiang Mai, a popular tourist destination as well as Thailand’s second largest city.

Burmese officials say 74 people were killed and 110 injured as 240 buildings collapsed near the epicentre of the quake. It is feared that the death toll will rise as news come in from areas that are still cut off.

“The military, police and local authorities are trying to find some people injured in those affected areas, but the roads are still closed,” an official said.

Chris Herink, Burmese country director for the charity World Vision operating in the region said there is real concern about the rural areas: “There will be more, I am afraid to say, unhappy information coming throughout the day… It is a hilly area near the border between Thailand and Laos, the so-called Golden Triangle. There is a lot of commerce that goes on in the area,” he said.

One death has been reported from neighbouring Thailand as a house wall collapsed killing a 52-year old woman inside.

The quake comes only two weeks after Japan’s massive earthquake and tsunami. No tsunami warning has been issued following the Burma quake, with US seismologists saying the epicentre was too far inland to cause a wave in the Indian Ocean.

Burma and Japan are part of two different tectonic plates, which are separated by the Eurasian plate.