Strong earthquake strikes Myanmar, felt in India

World Today

Residents who rushed outdoors following tremors stand on a road outside their houses in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, April 13, 2016. A strong earthquake struck Myanmar on Wednesday night and was felt in parts of eastern India and Bangladesh. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.(AP Photo/Bikas Das)

A strong earthquake struck Myanmar on Wednesday night and was felt in parts of eastern India and Bangladesh. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The earthquake had a magnitude pf 7.2, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center. The quake struck at a depth of 135 kilometers (84 miles), 396 kilometers (246 miles) north of Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

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-story 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.

The quake was centered in the jungle and hills around 220 kilometers (137 miles) 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.

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 neighboring Bhutan on Thursday.

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 kilometers (300 miles) from the epicenter.

Story by the Associated Press