Accessibility links

Breaking News

Earthquake Rattles Southeast Asia


Nurses help pushing a patient's bed as they are evacuated from a hospital building following an earthquake at Chiang Rai hospital in Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand, March 24, 2011
Nurses help pushing a patient's bed as they are evacuated from a hospital building following an earthquake at Chiang Rai hospital in Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand, March 24, 2011

A strong earthquake struck a remote area in northeastern Burma near the border with Thailand on Thursday, killing at least one person and shaking residents across a broad swath of southeast Asia. No tsunami was generated.

The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake at magnitude 6.8 and said it hit Thursday evening, local time, in an area where Burma, Thailand and Laos meet.

Epicenter of the earthquake
Epicenter of the earthquake

The epicenter was about 90 kilometers north of the Thai city of Chiang Rai, which sustained minor damage. U.S. experts say the quake was just 10 kilometers deep.

Police said a woman on the Thai side of the border was killed when a wall of her house collapsed on her.

Buildings swayed nearly 800 kilometers to the southwest in Bangkok, while residents of high-rise buildings in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, were temporarily evacuated.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

XS
SM
MD
LG