Injured ... Indian resident Lucy Singh Biswas is comforted by relatives at Siliguri Hospital after she broke her leg by falling down stairs when an earthquake hit Siliguri. Picture: AFP
A STRONG earthquake has struck Myanmar and was felt in parts of eastern India and Bangladesh. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
The magnitude-6.9 quake struck at a depth of 135 kilometres, 396 kilometres north of Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw, according to the US Geological Survey.
Injured ... Indian staff at Siliguri Hospital help a victim injured during an earthquake in Siliguri. Picture: AFPSource:AFP
Residents in Myanmar’s main city of Yangon panicked after the quake struck, but authorities there said there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
An Associated Press journalist who was in a hospital in Yangon at the time of the quake said the seven-storey building shook strongly twice, for at least a minute. Many people in the hospital, including patients, staff and visitors, ran out of the building and began calling their loved ones.
Strong earthquake ... Residents who rushed outdoors following tremors stand on a road outside their houses in Kolkata, India. Picture: AP.Source:AP
The quake was centred in the jungle and hills around 220 kilometres northwest of Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-biggest city.
While the area is prone to earthquakes, it is generally sparsely populated, and most houses are low-rise structures.
The tremors were felt in the eastern Indian states of Assam and West Bengal, including in the area of Assam’s Kaziranga National Park, where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are visiting during their royal tour of India.
Powerful ... Indian volunteers at Siliguri Hospital help a victim injured during an earthquake in Siliguri. Picture: AFPSource:AFP
Kitty Tawakley, a spokeswoman for the British High Commission in New Delhi, said Prince William and his wife, the former Kate Middleton, were safe. The royal couple are spending the night in the park area, and are scheduled to leave for neighbouring Bhutan later today.
In Assam’s capital, Gauhati, people rushed outdoors as they felt strong tremors and buildings swaying. A failure at a power station in eastern Assam caused outages in several parts of the state. People also reported feeling the quake in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, 484 kilometres from the epicentre.
