By Sagarika Rastogi
As per a statement released by the National Center for Seismology (NCS), there have been several instances of tremors felt due to an earthquake of intensity 4.0 on the Richter scale that occurred on Wednesday at 11:56 AM IST in Myanmar.
The Asian continent has also been experiencing such quakes in the form of tremors being experienced in Afghanistan and Tibet within the last 24 hours. Its latter has reportedly experienced an earthquake measuring 3.8, with the former being alarming at 4.3.
The recent earthquake in Myanmar has turned out to be particularly worrying since it has struck at a remarkably shallow depth of just 10 km. For context, shallow earthquakes are much more dangerous than deep – focus earthquakes. This is because the waves created by shallow earthquakes reach the surface level quicker and hence they retain their energy and momentum well enough to cause mass destruction and higher and more severe casualties.
A short while ago on January 12, a magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck at a depth of 130 km. The National Center for Seismology is closely monitoring this fault line as well.
To add to Myanmar’s misfortune, the country faces risks from moderate to major earthquake and tsunami events along the lengthy coastline. Myanmar lies sandwiched between four tectonic plates namely the Eurasian, Indian, Sunda, and the Burmaplates, which contribute to the Geological Tension.
Even in the aftermath of the magnitude 7.7 and 6.4 that struck central Myanmar on March 28, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had warned against a series of rapidly rising health concerns for thousands of citizens including but not limited to, TB (tuberculosis), HIV, and vector and borne diseases. A 1,400 km transform fault runs through Myanmar and connects Andaman spreading the centre to an area called the collision zone in the north, more formally knwon as – “The Sagaing Fault”.
This fault increases the chances of earthquakes for Sagaing, Mandalay, Bago, and Yangon, which together represent around 46% of Myanmar’s population, making it really hazardous in nature. Even in the case of Yangon, although it is comparatively distant from the fault line, the high population density poses a threat.
Although there are no reported major damage caused by Wednesday’s incidents, officials in all three countries are on high alert for potential aftershocks.