Strong quake kills 13 in Myanmar

At least 13 people were killed and dozens injured as a powerful earthquake hit the central city of Mandalay in north Myanmar yesterday.
The shallow 6.8-magnitude quake struck in a rural area 116 kilometres north of Mandalay at 7:12am followed by a series of aftershocks, reports AFP quoting the US Geological Survey (USGS).
The tremor also jolted Chittagong and other southern districts yesterday morning. However, there were no reports of casualties or damage, reports our Chittagong correspondent.
It lasted for around 15 seconds and residents in different areas were seen coming out from their houses in panic.
The quake hit at a depth of just 10 kilometres. It was followed by two shallow 5.0-magnitude aftershocks within 20 minutes, according to the USGS.
The quake was felt in neighbouring Thailand including in Bangkok.
There was no immediate information from Myanmar on whether the quake caused further deaths or major damage.
Four labourers flung into the Irrawaddy river from a partly-built bridge in the region were among those believed to have died, according to a situation report from the Save the Children charity.
The collapse of a monastery in the nearby village of Kyauk Myaung killed two people and one died in Mandalay, it said.
A further six were killed in Sint Ku township, including two people who died when a gold mine collapsed.
An official from Myanmar's Relief and Resettlement Department confirmed a death toll of seven so far, with four still considered missing from the bridge construction site.
He told AFP information was still patchy and the number of dead could rise.
"People everywhere are very worried that another earthquake might strike," the aid organisation said. Residents of Mandalay fled shaking buildings in terror, although no major damage was reported there.
Save the Children, which has an office in Mandalay, said reports indicated that 25 were injured in the bridge collapse on the Irrawaddy, with 10 taken to hospital.
It said 20 people were thought to have been taken to hospital in Shwebo and a further 10 were being treated in Mandalay.
A large crack stretching from the second to the sixth floor of Mandalay's highest building, the 25-storey Mann Myanmar Plaza, appeared after the quake, a local resident told AFP.
The USGS issued a yellow alert after the morning quake, saying "some casualties and damage are possible" but the impact should be relatively localised.
Earthquakes are relatively common in Myanmar. The USGS said six strong earthquakes, of 7.0-magnitude and more, struck between 1930 and 1956 near the Sagaing Fault, which runs north to south through the centre of the country.
Kyaw Kyaw Lwin, an official at the National Earthquake Information Division in Naypyidaw, said it was the strongest quake in the area since a 6.0-magnitude quake in 1991.