Magnitude 6.8 earthquake strikes northeastern Myanmar

Thursday, March 24, 2011

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake has struck the northeast of Myanmar, near the borders of China and Thailand, according to the United States Geological Survey. The earthquake, which was originally registered at mangnitude 7.0 occured at the rather shallow depth of 10 km (6.2 miles) in a sparsely populated, remote area in the northeast, striking about 89 km (55 miles) north of Chiang Rai, Thailand at 13:55 UTC.

Tremors from the quake could be felt in Bangkok and Hanoi. A second earthquake occurred a half-hour later, which registered at a preliminary magnitude of 4.8. One person has been killed in Chiang Rai by a roof collaspe. A third quake occurred an hour and a half later and registered a preliminary magnitude of 5.4.

No tsunami was formed or is expected to form as a result of the quake. A bulletin from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center stated, "The earthquake is located too far inland and too deep inside the earth to generate a tsunami in the Indian Ocean."


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