According to the United States Geological Survey, the earthquake was registered at a depth of about 10 km or 6.2 miles. This quake was followed by a 4.8 magnitude aftershock about 30 minutes later then a 5.4 aftershock about two hours after the initial 6.8 quake.
According to a CNN report, one person was killed by a roof collapse caused by the earthquake. Reuters reported that the quake was felt in Thailand and Vietnam and electricity was cut off in some areas around the quake. Cracks in the road were reported in the town of Tachilek, Myanmar.
The preliminary magnitude for this quake was 7.0 but was later downgraded to a 6.8 by the USGS. Myanmar was also struck by a magnitude 5.4 quake on March 10. This quake, which was centered along the border between Myanmar and China, was responsible for at least 25 deaths and more than 250 injuries. That particular quake was a deeper quake at approximately 35 kilometers or about 21 miles.
A quake along the Myanmar-India border struck earlier in the year on Feb. 4 and registered 6.4 in magnitude.
Today's quake was a shallow quake which is usually more destructive than a deeper earthquake. According to the USGS website, earthquakes can occur at depths of up to 700 km. The surface shaking strength of a shallower earthquake will not be the same as a deeper quake of the same magnitude and can cause more damage, as was the case with the Haiti earthquake of 2010, which struck at a depth of about 8.1 miles. Some of the mitigating factors with death and destruction in any earthquake are population and building structures. Poorly-built structures require less shaking to collapse and cause injury.
Myanmar is a country that is vulnerable to a variety of natural disasters such as earthquakes, flooding, cyclones, landslides and tsunamis and has seen several of these events in the past. According to the 2009 report, Science of Tsunami Hazards, from The International Journal of the Tsunami Society, Myanmar's susceptibility to natural hazards is "results from its unique geographic and geologic location and geomorphology."
The country is vulnerable to seismic activity due to its location and proximity to tectonic plates. The Science of Tsunami Hazards report pointed out specifically that "the eastern Himalayan belt marks the collision boundary of the Indian tectonic plate underthrusting the Eurasian plate" in Myanmar. The Indian plate is moving northward at a rate of 5.5 cm per year and is subducting underneath the Burma plate, which is part of the Eurasian plate, creating a subduction zone beneath Myanmar. The 9.0 Tohoku Earthquake of March 11 occurred along a subduction zone.
Another plate boundary across Myanmar's lowland area is located where the Burma and Southeast Asian tectonic plates meet, creating a transform fault, which is a type of strike-slip fault that experiences horizontal slippage between plates.
Major and great earthquakes (magnitudes between 7.0 and 8.9) have occurred at least 15 times over the past 100 years in Myanmar, with destructive earthquakes occurring in 1930 (Bago), 1970 (Yangon) and 1975 (Pagan).
Tamara L. Morris developed a special interest in weather issues and natural disasters after a tornado swept through her hometown in 1982. She is certified as a National Weather Service Skywarn Stormspotter and a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member. As a CERT member she served locally in emergency efforts after a rare derecho (inland hurricane) struck her area in 2009. She researches and writes about earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes and other natural phenomena.
Click here to watch Video
