Strong magnitude 6.3 quake strikes in northern Thailand

Updated

May 05, 2014 23:06:51

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake has hit northern Thailand on Monday afternoon, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

The quake struck just after 6pm local time around 27 kilometres from the mountainous northern city of Chiang Rai, the USGS said in a statement.

It was felt as far away as Bangkok, 800 kilometres to the south, where tall buildings shook for several seconds.

The epicentre was at a shallow depth of 7.4 kilometres.

"There has been minor damage to buildings in Chiang Rai itself, some shops have have goods scattered about and we're seeing cracks in buildings," a Chiang Rai police officer told Reuters.

"No injuries have been reported so far but we're hearing that some provincial roads have sustained some damage with large cracks appearing," said the officer, who declined to be identified.

The earthquake was also felt in Myanmar's capital, Yangon.

Chiang Rai, a remote mountain retreat popular with foreign tourists, is near the borders of Myanmar and Laos.

Major earthquakes are rare in Thailand, although tremors frequently strike the north.

AFP

Topics:
earthquake,
disasters-and-accidents,
thailand,
asia

First posted

May 05, 2014 21:32:10

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2014/05/06/strong-magnitude-6-3-quake-strikes-in-northern-thailand/