YANGON-A slight earthquake measuring 4.8-magnitude with its epicenter inside of Myanmar, about 39 miles of east-southeast of Thayet Township, Magway Region, latitude 19.25°N, longitude 95.78°E, depth (8) Kilometers, about (43) miles south-southwest of Nay Pyi Taw seismological observatory, was recorded on October 22nd, according to the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DMH).
“Mainly, there have been small faults. Some are nameless. The earthquake don’t usually occur around Thayet Township. We didn’t name places where there were no strong earthquakes,” said Dr Kyaw Moe Oo, DMH’s Director-General.
The DMH also announced that a moderate earthquake measuring 5.1-magnitude had struck its epicenter inside Myanmar about 5 miles of south-west of Kalaywa Township, Sagaing Region on October 18th.
The numbers of earthquakes hit in Myanmar until October this year increased compared to the previous year.
On August 31st, a 6-magnitude earthquake hit about 14 miles from the north-west of Shwe Bo Township. It destroyed some pagodas and government-owned buildings in Shwe Bo and Yay-U Townships, Sagaing Region.
Likewise, the 3.8-magnitude earthquake had struck about seven miles from the north of Yay-U Township on September 1st, according to the DMH.
As Myanmar lies on the Sagaing, Kyaukgyan, Kabaw and Kalatan faults, earthquake is one of the natural disasters in Myanmar.
A magnitude 6 earthquake hit the eastern part of Shan State in 2011 and killed 76 people.
Moreover, a strong earthquake measuring magnitude 6.8 had struck near Thabeikgyin Township, Mandalay Region in 2012, killing 26 people and destroying ancient buildings.
Dr. Myo Thant, vice-chair of Myanmar Earthquake Committee said: “There may be aftershocks due to the shallow earthquakes. We have not yet named that fault in the map drawn in 2012. There is a fault line in the east of well-known Kabaw fault. It is located between the Sagaing Fault and Kabaw Fault. Small earthquakes were recorded when Myanmar Geo-Science Society jointly conducted surveys with the Chinese earthquake academy from 2016 to 2018. We are still monitoring it and have not conducted a detailed survey on the fault line yet.”
People in Shwebo, Singu, Thabeikkyin, Katha, Mandalay, Thibaw, Kantbalu and Sagaing claim they felt the earthquake.
