THIRTEEN KILLED IN STRONG MYANMAR QUAKE : NGO
SHWEBO, Myanmar, Nov 11, 2012 (AFP) - A powerful earthquake which hit Myanmar Sunday killed at least 13 people, injured dozens and sparked panic in the central city of Mandalay, residents and aid workers said.
The shallow 6.8-magnitude quake struck in a rural area 116 kilometres (72 miles) north of Mandalay followed by a series of aftershocks, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.
Another strong quake with a magnitude of 5.8 shook the same region late Sunday, it added. The tremor was felt by an AFP team near the town of Shwebo, which is north of Mandalay and close to the epicentre of the earlier quake.
There was no immediate information on whether the latest quake caused further deaths or major damage.
Four labourers flung into the Irrawaddy river from a partly-built bridge in the region were among those believed to have died, ac-
I ran from my bed carrying my daughter out to the street
cording to a situation report from the Save the Children charity.
The collapse of a monastery in the nearby village of Kyauk Myaung killed two people and one died in Mandalay, it said. A further six were killed in Sint Ku township, including two people who died when a gold mine collapsed.
“People everywhere are very worried that another earthquake might strike,” the aid organisation said.
Residents of Mandalay fled shaking buildings in terror, although no major damage was reported there.
“I ran from my bed carrying my daughter out to the street. There were many people in the road. Some were shouting and others felt dizzy,” Mandalay resident San Yu Kyaw told AFP by telephone.
An official from Myanmar's Relief and Resettlement Department con- firmed a death toll of seven so far, with four still considered missing from the bridge construction site.
He told AFP information was still patchy and the number of dead could rise.
Save the Children, which has an office in Mandalay, said reports indicated that 25 were injured in the bridge collapse on the Irrawaddy, with 10 taken to hospital.