- The earthquake hit at 1355 GMT on Thursday and was centred about 70 miles (110 km) from the northern Thai city of Chiang Rai, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. The quake was shallow, at a depth of 6.2 miles (10km).
- At least 75 people are reported to have been killed.
- The magnitude-6.8 quake struck near the Lao and Thai borders, and was felt as far away as the Thai capital Bangkok, and in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.
- The town of Tachileik and surrounding villages in Shan state appear to have borne the brunt of the earthquake. Several hundred buildings collapsed north of Tachileik, in mountains near the border with Thailand. Roads and bridges have been damaged making affected areas hard to reach.
- Burma is ill prepared to deal with natural disasters, says the BBC's Rachel Harvey in Bangkok.
- Communication systems and infrastructure are poor and the military government, still in charge until the handover to a new civilian-led administration, tends to limit the flow of information.
A Thai Buddhist monk inspects a fallen stupa of the Chedi Luang pagoda a day after a strong earthquake hit Myanmar.
Source: BBC News
25/3/2011
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