People in Myanmar's quake epicenter, Tabaitgine, in Myanmar's Mandalay region were scattered outdoor taking shelters and some houses were spoiled to some extent with electricity blackout but communication links remained connected.



People look at the earthquake-striken Ayeyawaddy-river-crossing bridge,
under construction, in Kyaukmyaung town of Sagaing Region in Myanmar, on Nov.11, 2012.


It was witnessed by Xinhua reporter who rushed to the quake site in the first hour after Sunday morning's 6.8-magnitude strong earthquake struck northern part of the country covering Mandalay and Sagaing regions.

Despite several aftershocks, Xinhua reporter on the way to the quake epicenter felt that the quake was apparent, seeing that the traffic from Mandalay to Tabaitgine was still accessible.

Relief measures have started in the quake-hit regions. Vice President Sai Mauk Kham inspected the quake-hit region shortly after the tremor and supervised the relief tasks. As of now, six people have been killed and 64 others injured in Tabaitgine, the epicenter of Sunday's earthquake.

Official confirmed that there are 843 houses and 921 households with a population of 4,195 in Tabaitgine.

Some 102 houses, two schools, 48 government departmental buildings and 21 religious buildings were damaged, local police official told Xinhua.

In the latest development, a more stronger aftershock registering 6.2 on the Richter scale took place in Tabaitgine at 17:24 hours (10:54 GMT).

According to the latest figure, the death toll was six while 64 were injured and four went missing in the 6.8-magnitude strong earthquake. Local sources said, adding that the death toll might be rising.

The victims are respectively from Kyauk Myaung in Sagaing region and Singu in Mandalay region.

One of the victims was killed as the Ayayawaddy-river-crossing bridge, Yadana Theinka, in Kyauk Myaung under construction that links Shwebo and Singu, collapsed.

There were damages with a small number of residential houses, school buildings and pagodas in nine areas -- Sagaing, Shwebo, Kyauk Myaung, Khin Oo , Mandalay, Amarapura, Singu, Kyaukse and Tabaitgine, according to early's state TV report.

The tremor struck Myanmar's northern part Sunday morning with an epicenter at Tabaitgine, about 131 kilometers (km) north of Mandalay city and 72 kilometers north of Shwebo township.

With a depth of 20 km, the quake happened at 07:42:37 hours local time (01:12:37 GMT).

Some two moderate aftershocks at a magnitude of 5.0 were experienced earlier in the morning.

Despite the strong quake, dams in the quake-hit region remained unaffected.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet