Myanmar Earthquake Damage, Deaths Minimal After 6.9-Magnitude Temblor

A nighttime earthquake in Myanmar left dozens of people injured Wednesday but did not cause significant property damage or deaths in the South Asian nation. The 6.9-magnitude temblor, which struck at about 8:30 p.m. local time, about 80 miles below the surface, cracked a few pagodas, the Associated Press reported.

“We haven’t heard any reports of casualties or damage,” an official from the country’s meteorological department told Reuters. “So far as I know, the epicenter wasn’t in a densely populated area.”

Myanmar is no stranger to earthquakes, but Wednesday’s tremor was of only intermediate depth, the United States Geological Survey said. Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually result in less shaking on the ground right above the epicenter.

The quake did, however, lead to more than 80 injuries in Myanmar and nearby Bangladesh as residents trampled each other while attempting to escape their buildings, Agence France-Presse reported. At least 24 people were hospitalized as a result.

“I was inside working and then suddenly I felt the ground shaking,” resident Chiranjeet Ghosh told various TV news outlets. “People started yelling, ‘Something is happening. Let’s get out!’ and we immediately rushed out. I came out and saw that everyone else around here had already evacuated their homes and poured onto the streets.”

Though the earthquake did not cause much damage, it did alarm people across the region as they felt the ground shaking. Among them were England’s Prince William and Duchess of Cambridge Kate, who the Daily Express reported experienced tremors while visiting Kaziranga National Park in India. An official traveling with the couple confirmed to the AP that the couple was OK.

Dinesh Raj, who lives in Nepal, told Reuters he also felt the temblor, “but it was not so strong to make us flee our homes.

One of the last major earthquakes in Myanmar hit in November 2012. The 6.8-magnitude quake killed about 26 people.