Quake kills at least 74 in Myanmar, one in Thailand

Yangon, March 25 (DPA) A magnitude-6.8 earthquake killed at least 74 people in northeast Myanmar and one in Thailand, officials said Friday.

About 74 people died and 111 were injured in Tarli and Tachilek towns, near the Myanmar-Thai border in Myanmar's Shan state, and destroyed 244 houses, nine government offices and 14 Buddhist monasteries, government-run Myanmar television reported.

The epicentre of the earthquake was about 50 km north of Tachilek, a border town 680 km north of Bangkok.

Myanmar Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Maung Maung Shwe was reportedly en route to the quake-hit area for an assessment tour.

The Myanmar Red Cross and Crescent Society has dispatched 1,000 relief packages to the area, but access to the region is difficult.

'It takes around four days to reach the affected area by car from Yangon and there are flights twice a week into Tachilek's airport,' aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres said in a statement.

There were no reports on casualties in Yangon and Naypyitaw, Myanmar's former and current capitals, respectively.

The earthquake struck at 8.25 p.m. (1355 GMT) Thursday, with its epicentre in northeast Myanmar, 589 km northeast of Yangon, and 772 km north of Bangkok, according to the US Geological Survey.

In Chiang Rai, Thailand, Hong Khamping, 55, died when a concrete wall in her home collapsed on top of her. The wall was poorly constructed, Thai officials said.

'There were no other deaths or injuries in northern Thailand,' said Chiatha Mositrat, head of the Chiang Rai Disaster Prevention Office.

Tourists in Chiang Rai, including members of the Syrian triathlon team, evacuated their hotel rooms for several hours.

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