Burma experiences 6.8 Earthquake

Burma (Myanmar to its BFFs) experienced a large earthquake in its backcountry today near its borders with Laos and Thailand. Initially reported as a 7.0M earthquake by the US Geologic Survey, the quake was later downgraded to a 6.8M.

The earthquake occurred in a  relatively remote and sparsely populated region.  The death toll hours after the quake was reportedly low: a child in Burma, and a woman in Thailand.  However, a Burmese official in contact with Western press has stated that there could be more casualties in the town of Tarlay, which lies close to the epicenter.  In Tarlay 10 men, and 13 women, were killed when buildings they were in collapsed.   According to the official, five monasteries and 35 buildings collapsed in the town as a result of the earthquake.

A 4.8M aftershock occurred approximately half an hour after the first earthquake, and then an hour and a half after that a 5.4M aftershock occurred.

No tsunami warning was issued after the earthquake as it was too far inland for it to generate a wave in the Indian Ocean.

The BBC and several other news sources were reporting that two 7.0M quakes struck the region, seconds apart, and each with a different depth.  However, there was only one earthquake in that particular time-period, and it occurred at a depth of 10km (6.2 miles).  The Geological Survey initially said the quake had a depth of 230 km (142.5 miles), but it later revised its estimate to say the quake was 10 km.  This change is probably what led to some of the confusion in reporting on the earthquake.

Updated to reflect new death tolls from the quake