A strong earthquake struck northern Burma this morning, leaving as many as 12 people feared dead.
A slow release of official information left the actual extent of the damage unclear.
Burma, also known as Myanmar, has a poor official disaster response system, despite having lost upward of 140,000 people to a devastating cyclone in 2008.
Burma's second-biggest city of Mandalay, the largest population base near the quake site, reported no casualties or major damage.
Smaller towns closer to the quake's epicentre were worse hit.
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 evening news on state television showed Vice President Sai Maul Hkam visiting the town of Thabeikyin, where the report said damage included 102 homes, 21 religious buildings, 48 government offices and four schools.
The town, a gold-mining centre, is near the quake's epicentre and had casualties of three dead and 35 injured.
The report brought the total number of officially confirmed casualties to six killed and 64 injured.
Independently compiled tallies suggested a death toll of about a dozen.
An official from Burma's Meteorological Department said the magnitude-6.8 quake struck at 7.42am local time.
The US Geological Society reported a 5.8-magnitude aftershock later today, but there were no initial reports of new damage or casualties.
State television warned residents that aftershocks usually follow a major earthquake and told people to stay away from high walls, old buildings and structures with cracks in them.
