More than 74 people have been killed and dozens injured after a strong earthquake struck Burma, officially known as Myanmar, near its border with Thailand.
Tremors were felt as far away as Bangkok, almost 800km from the epicentre, Hanoi and parts of China during the earthquake, which the US Geological Survey measured at magnitude 6.8.
A Burmese official said dozens of people were killed in areas close to the epicentre and more than 240 buildings had collapsed.
‘The death toll has increased to more than 74 now from those areas including Tarlay, Mine Lin and Tachileik townships,’ said the official.
‘About 111 people were injured from those areas. The officials are still trying to reach some more affected areas. There are some places we cannot reach yet.’
Across the border, Thai authorities said a 52-year-old woman was killed in Mae Sai district after a wall in her house collapsed.
Terrified residents across the region fled their homes, tall buildings swayed and hospitals and schools were evacuated during the tremors.
In Yangon, Chris Herink, Burma country director for the charity World Vision, said there did not appear to be ‘catastrophic infrastructure damage’ in the affected areas of Kengtung and Tachileik, although buildings were cracked and water supplies disrupted in some areas.
‘Of real concern though are the more rural areas. There will be more, I am afraid to say, unhappy information coming throughout the day,’ he said.
‘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.’
The quake struck 90km north of Chiang Rai and 235km north-northeast of Chiang Mai, Thailand's second city and a popular tourist destination.
Thailand's meteorological department said it had registered six large aftershocks following the initial quake.
Residents in Chiang Rai city raced from their homes again this morning as a large tremor again shook the ground.
Four pagodas in the historic town of Chiang Saen near the northern Thai border were damaged, including Chedi Luang, where its three-metre long pinnacle crashed to the ground.
The shaking was felt throughout China's southwest province of Yunnan, according to state-run China National Radio, but no casualties or structural collapses had been reported as of this morning.
However, the earthquake reportedly caused cracks in some homes and schools in and around the rugged Xishuangbanna region which borders Burma, and fear of aftershocks forced many people in the area to spend the night outdoors.
