A powerful earthquake has struck just off the coast of Myanmar, with Bangkok feeling the effects. According to a Coconuts report, tremors were reported in the Thai capital yesterday, June 19, with a number of schools and office buildings evacuated.
According to the Earthquake Observation Division, the 6.0 magnitude quake struck just off Myanmar’s southern coast, in the Martaban Gulf, half-way between the northern Thai province of Tak and Myanmar. The fault line, part of the region’s Ring of Fire which encircles the Pacific Ocean, is the same fault responsible for the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The epicentre of the earthquake that caused that tsunami is 1500 kilometres south of yesterday’s tremor.
Several aftershocks, from magnitude 4.0 to magnitude 4.8, followed, and a number of schools and office buildings in central Bangkok were evacuated.
Coconuts reports that on Thai social media, netizens used the hashtag #earthquake while posting images and video footage. People could be seen being evacuated from office buildings on Silom Road, as residents across the capital reported tremors and swaying light fixtures.
SOURCE: Coconuts
