Pagodas damaged as Earth shakes
Print Edition
TRUCKLOADS of soldiers and squadrons of police sealed off some of the centuries-old Buddhist pagodas around Myanmar’s ancient capital of Bagan yesterday, a day after at least 187 of the brick temples were damaged in a powerful earthquake.
President Htin Kyaw flew to Bagan to meet local residents as authorities scrambled to assess the full extent of the damage from the 6.8-magnitude quake that shook buildings across the country and beyond on Wednesday.
“The Earth shook for about five minutes,” said Soe Lwin, who was inside the Sulamani temple or “Crowning Jewel,” one of Bagan’s most visited sites, with about 15 other tourists when the quake struck.
“One Spanish girl got slightly injured, so we helped her. After that, we ran outside of the pagoda and saw some parts falling down,” said Soe Lwin, who cut short his trip for fear of aftershocks in the area.
Although tremors from the quake were felt as far away as Thailand, Bangladesh and eastern India, initial assessments showed that wider damage was limited.
“The overall humanitarian impact has been relatively low despite the earthquake’s magnitude,” said Pierre Peron, a spokesman for the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “No major needs have been identified and there has so far been no request for international assistance.”
The office and the Red Cross confirmed that three people had been killed — two children and one resident from two towns close to the epicenter.
The quake struck near the town of Chauk, on the Ayeyarwaddy River south of Bagan and about 175 kilometers southwest of the country’s second city Mandalay, around 5pm on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said.
“We continue to provide assistance to injured people, but we don’t see this as a major disaster,” said Amanda George, of the International Red Cross in Myanmar.
The government’s Relief and Resettlement Department was leading the response, and found four schools damaged in northwest Myanmar. A hospital was damaged in Pakkoku, where one person was injured, and other buildings affected, while two houses collapsed near Chauk.
In a short address to the media and residents in Bagan, President Htin Kyaw said China, Japan, and the UN cultural body UNESCO, had offered to support temple restoration.
“We have to record and repair the damage to the pagodas, but it will have to be done systematically.
“It will take time, but we will do our best,” Htin Kyaw said.
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