At the time this wave hit Bangkok, I was standing at the top platform of the Pleonchit BTS station when I first noticed the swaying of the platform beneath me. It continued and as I searched around me for confirmation of what my body was telling me, I looked up to see the hanging overhead lights swinging wildly from their chains. This continued way too long and as the BTS train pulled up to the station, I boarded it very hesitantly. I was actually beginning to think I was the only one feeling/seeing this as most around me were too wrapped up in their Blackberries to notice that we were in the middle of an earthquake. Trust me when I say this wasn't minor because I had to grab the station railing for a moment to keep my balance.
Earthquakes DO HAPPEN IN BANGKOK!!!
Teacher Charlie
YANGON — A strong earthquake struck Myanmar near the Thai border on Thursday, killing at least two people, including a child, officials from both countries said, with shaking felt across the region.
Terrified residents fled their homes, tall buildings swayed and hospitals and schools were evacuated after tremors spread as far away as Bangkok, almost 800 kilometres (500 miles) from the epicentre, Hanoi and parts of China.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) initially recorded the quake as magnitude 7.0, but later revised it down to 6.8. A powerful aftershock was later measured at magnitude 5.4.
The epicentre was close to the borders with Thailand and Laos and was just 10 kilometres (six miles) deep.
A Myanmar official said a youngster died in a town close to the border with Thailand.
"We received a report that a child was killed in Tachileik town when a building collapsed because of the quake," said the official, who declined to be named.
Another three people were reported to have been injured in a different part of the town, which was close to the epicentre of the quake, and a resident said he could feel a tremor as he spoke to AFP.
"We have to lie down on the ground. The ward authorities are warning the people through loudspeakers to stay outside the buildings," he said.
"We are really afraid to stay inside our houses tonight."
Aid group World Vision said at least one bridge in the region was reported to have been broken by the quake.
"This part of the country is quite mountainous, and, given last week's severe rains, there are also concerns about landslides following this earthquake," Jenny MacIntyre, communications manager with World Vision in Myanmar, said.
Just across the border from Tachileik in Thailand, police in Mae Sai district said a 52-year-old woman was killed after a wall of her house collapsed.
Colonel Thanomsak Yospan, superintendent of Mae Sai district police, told AFP that the woman's home was poorly constructed and did not stand up to the tremor.
Chiang Rai governor Somchai Hatayatanti confirmed the woman's death and said the aftershock felt in the area was "quite serious".
He said efforts were made to evacuate people from tall buildings and he had ordered all patients from Mae Sai District Hospital to be taken to Chiang Rai.
The quake struck 90 kilometres (60 miles) north of Chiang Rai and 235 kilometres (150 miles) north-north-east of Chiang Mai, Thailand's second city and a popular tourist destination. Tall buildings shuddered in Bangkok during the tremor.
In China, villagers around 40 kilometres from the Myanmar border in the southwestern province of Yunnan said buildings swayed for over a minute during the quake, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
More than 350 students and teachers were evacuated from a school in Menghai County, Yunnan, after the building developed cracks, Xinhua said.
People in the southern Chinese city of Nanning, nearly 900 kilometres (550 miles) from the epicentre, fled buildings when they felt tremors, Xinhua said. No casualties were reported in China.
In central Hanoi -- in Vietnam, away from the epicentre -- the quake was felt as a smooth rocking motion that lasted for several seconds.
Some Hanoi residents described fleeing their homes in panic.
Nguyen Thi Hong Hanh, 36, who lives on the 10th floor of a highrise, said her husband noticed their pet fish shaking in their tank.
"We all rushed to the street. All the other people in the apartments also rushed out," she said.
Dang Hoang Anh Thu, 36, said her 17th-floor apartment also shook enough to move pictures on the wall.
"We got out, and saw that all other people in the building were heading downstairs as well," the university teacher said.
The city felt the tremor at about magnitude 5.0, according to Dinh Quoc Van, deputy head of the earthquake monitoring department, though there were no immediate reports of damage.
Officials in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw said they had clearly felt the quake, while a resident of Mandalay in central Myanmar said the shaking lasted for about five seconds.
The quake comes two weeks after Japan was hit by a monster earthquake, which unleashed a devastating tsunami that left around 27,000 people dead or missing and triggered a crisis at its Fukushima nuclear plant.
No tsunami warning was issued after the Myanmar quake as US seismologists said it was too far inland to generate a devastating wave in the Indian Ocean.
Two earthquakes strike in the border area in between Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and China
The Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) have both confirmed that a on 3/24/2011 1:55:36 PM UTC (about 2035 local time), a 6.8-magnitude earthquake occurred in the highly-populated region of Shan State in Myanmar.
YubeNet is reporting that based on an automated impact model, this earthquake, which occurred in a region with medium vulnerability to natural disasters, has potentially a high humanitarian impact. It not clear at this time, however, whether international humanitarian aid is needed. Such a decision will be made by an expert.
The first earthquake occurred 89 km (55 miles) N of Chiang Rai, Thailand; 168 km (104 miles) SSW of Yunjinghong, Yunnan, China; 589 km (365 miles) NE of Rangoon, Myanmar; annd 772 km (479 miles) N of Bangkok, Thailand.
The USGS said the first 6.8-magnitude quake, which occurred six miles deep, was followed by another of the same strength but far deeper: 140 miles.
Potentially affected critical infrastructure:
* Nuclear plants: [None]
* Hydrodams: [None]
* Airports: Chiang Kham (161km), Xieng Lom (173km), Chiang Rai (113km), Chiang Tai International (105km), Ban Houayxay (92km), Tachilek (47km), Monghsat (78km), Luang Namtha (158km), Keng Tung (52km), Mengla (185km), Gasa (150km), Zheli Airfield P (155km)
* Ports: [None]
For more on the technical aspects of the first earthquake, go to USGS's webpage: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc0002aes.php
It is being reported that the earthquakes were not powerful enough to generate a Pacific Ocean tsunami warning.
No comments:
Post a Comment