Two dead after strong Burma quake

A POWERFUL earthquake has struck Burma, reportedly leaving at least two dead and five missing, and sparking panic in the central city of Mandalay.

"According to the information we have so far, two people died and three were injured because of the earthquake, while five are still missing," an official in the capital Naypyidaw said on Sunday, asking not to be named.

He said the missing were workers flung into the Irrawaddy River when the quake shook the bridge they were building in an area north of Mandalay, the country's second-largest city.

One man died and three were injured by buildings collapsing in a small town in central Sagaing region. A woman was also killed by falling debris from a brick wall in a village north of Mandalay.

The shallow 6.8-magnitude quake hit around 116 kilometres north of Mandalay at a depth of just 10 kilometres, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. It initially put the magnitude of the quake at 7.0.

It was followed by a series of strong aftershocks.

"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 said.

"People are now scared of more earthquakes. Especially those who live or run businesses in high-rise buildings are desperate and don't know what to do," he said.

Construction standards are generally poor in Burma, one of Asia's most impoverished nations.

A large crack stretching from the second to the sixth floor of Mandalay's highest building, the 25-storey Mann Myanmar Plaza, appeared after the quake, a local resident said.

He said people were afraid to enter the structure and it remained closed.

The USGS issued a yellow alert, saying "some casualties and damage are possible" but that the impact should be relatively localised.

The quake hit at 7.42am (local time) and was followed by two shallow 5.0-magnitude aftershocks within 20 minutes, according to the USGS.

"The quake was quite strong. I was shopping in the market at the time and I saw women crying in fear when they felt it. We expect more quakes are coming. Everybody is afraid," said 23-year-old Win Win Nwe, a resident in the small town of Shwebo, north of Mandalay.

She said there were fears that several people had been injured in a nearby town.

It comes little more than a week before US President Barack Obama is due in Burma on a historic visit, as the West begins to roll back sanctions to reward a series of dramatic political reforms under President Thein Sein.

The quake was felt in neighbouring Thailand, including in the capital Bangkok, according to reports on social media websites.

It struck around 572 kilometres east of the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, one of the world's biggest cities.

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