6.1 quake hits North, jolts Bangkok

[KoratCat]

6.1 quake hits North, jolts Bangkok

(BangkokPost.com)

A moderate earthquake centered in the Golden Triangle area in the far North was felt in Bangkok and most of the northern provinces on Wednesday afternoon, but no casualties or damage was reported.

The quake was estimated initially by Thai authorities at 5.7-magnitude. There were no reports of damage in Thailand but several high-rise buildings were evacuated.

It occurred near the tri-border area where Burma, Laos and Thailand meet, north of Chiang Rai provincial town. National Disaster Warning Centre director Smith Dharmasarojana said the quake began at 3.57 p.m. Thailand time, 0857 GMT.

"The tremor could be felt in Bangkok and the northern provinces," he said in a television interview.

"The people in Oudomxai, near the epicentre, were shocked and ran out of their buildings but there were no reports of casualties or damage," said Lao Foreign Ministry spokesman Yong Chauthalousy, in a telephone interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Residents and workers in Bangkok skyscrapers said they felt the shock, particularly in the Silom Road area, the Bangkok business centre.

In Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital, tall buildings swayed and people ran into the streets, but no damage was reported, according to dpa.

Hoang Quoc Uy, 30, entertainment manager at Hanoi's 18-floor Fortuna Hotel, said he was in his top-floor office at the time of the quake.

"Suddenly, I felt the floor shaking, and the paintings on the wall were shaking too," Uy said. "Looking out of the window, I saw a lot of people running out to the street from high buildings around."

Uy said he called his wife at their one-story home nearby and she said she'd felt nothing. "I think only people in high buildings were able to recognise it as an earthquake."

The US Geological Service said the exact epicentre of the quake was inside Laos, 110km northeast of Chiang Rai. It registered 6.1 on the Richter scale, and was centered 38 kilometeres beneath the ground, the USGS said.

The Google map of the quake is here (map in Thai; details in English):

http://tinyurl.com/2eel63

The latest news on the quake can be found on the USGS website:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/rec ... 07ckan.php

Mr Smith said he expected many aftershocks from the quake.

Bangkok Post May 16, 2007

[KoratCat]

150 babies moved to safer building

Cracks have been found in a five-storey building in Chiang Rai Prachanukroh hospital in the northern province's Muang district, forcing the evacuation of 150 new-born babies. The hospital yesterday declared the building off-limits. The babies were placed in another building at the hospital.

Wednesday's earthquake in western Laos sent tremors from the northernmost provinces down to Bangkok. The US Geological Survey revised the scale of the earthquake from 6.1 to 6.3 on the Richter scale yesterday.



The centre of the quake was measured at the Nam Ma fault in Laos, about 95 kilometres from Chiang Rai.


Prathueng Sornkham, director of Chiang Rai airport, said the quake had not caused any structural damage to the airport.


However, there have been reports of visible cracks on the walls of some government and commercial buildings as damage assessment continued yesterday.


The Fine Arts Department is planning to restore parts of Wat Pasak and Wat Phra That Jomkitti, after the tremors toppled top sections of the ancient temples.


Culture Minister Khaisri Sri-aroon yesterday said a golden spire on top of Wat Phra That Jomkitti, which snapped and fell, as well as cracks at the western side of the temple would be fixed soon.


The Department of Mineral Resources has detected 45 aftershocks since the quake, which continued through to late yesterday afternoon.


Apichai Chavajarernpun, the department's chief, said that the scale of the aftershocks were between 2.5-4.5 on the Richter scale.


The low-intensity aftershocks with decreasing frequency were expected to continue until today, he added.


He said his agency had planned to conduct a risk assessment of the 13 active faults in Thailand in a bid to improve the country's earthquake preparedness and response operations.


Ranking of the faults is due to be completed within two years, he said.


The department has been closely monitoring three active faults that might impact Bangkok. They are Si Sawat and Three Pagodas in Kanchanaburi province and the Sagaing fault in Burma, part of which runs under the Andaman Sea.


Worawoot Tantiwanit, a geological specialist from the department, said the two faults in Kanchanaburi must be ''closely monitored'' because of their proximity to Bangkok. The area is only 300 kilometres from the capital.


A disaster preparedness and evacuation plan must also be drawn up to mitigate the impact of an earthquake in the country, especially for people living near Srinakharin dam, which is close to the Si Sawat fault, he said

Bangkok Post May 17, 2007