Latest casualty estimates from sources:
Talerh (Talay) 50 dead 100 injured
Monglane 60 dead 100 injured
Jakuni 20 dead 30 injured
Total 130 dead 230 injured
Sources are still collecting data from Mongyawng and Mongphyak. (SHAN)
More than 80 coffins were sold out this morning in Tachilek, following last night’s 6.8 magnitude quake that centered in Talerh-Monglane area, 48 km north of Tachilek-Maesai border checkpoint, according to sources on the border.
Quake hit Talerh
More than an estimated hundred buildings, including the Talerh hospital, crumbled in Talerh, Monglane (20 km further northeast) and Mongphyak (35 km further northwest). “Half of a two-floored house was seen buried,” one source quoted an eye-witness as saying.
Estimates of the death toll range from 50 to more than 100, at the time of this writing. (10:30)
The bridge in Talerh (Talay), Chinese-constructed, is also unusable, as there were many cracks and earth on both banks of the river had collapsed.
Most of the people in Tachilek spent the night sleeping outdoors, as exhorted by the town authorities.
The convulsions reached as far as Mongyawng, Mongla, Panghsang and Namkham in the north and Monghsat and Mongton in the west. “I have never experienced an earthquake this strong throughout my whole life,” said a 50-year old native of Mongyang told SHAN.
This appears to be the third biggest natural disaster that has hit Burma. The first was the 2008 Cyclone Nargis and the second, the 2010 Cyclone Giri.
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