Strong quake, aftershock strike Myanmar, a dozen feared dead

A 5.8-magnitude aftershock has hit northern Myanmar hours after a strong earthquake on Sunday morning damaged several Buddhist pagodas, collapsed a bridge and a gold mine and left 12 people feared dead.

There are no initial reports of casualties or damage from the latest 5.8-magnitude aftershock, according to the US Geological Survey. Earler on Sunday no casualties or major damage was reported in the nearest major population centre, Myanmar’s second-biggest city of Mandalay, about 117 kilometres south of the quake’s epicentre near the town of Shwebo.

An official from the Meteorological Department in the capital, Naypyitaw, said the magnitude-6.8 quake struck at 7.42am local time.

The area surrounding the epicentre is underdeveloped, and casualty reports were coming in piecemeal, mostly from local media. The region is a centre for mining of minerals and gemstones, and several mines were reported to have collapsed.

The biggest single death toll was reported by a local administrative officer in Sintku township — on the Irrawaddy River near the quake’s epicentre — who said six people had died there and 11 others 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 not usually allowed to release information to the media.