Myanmar jolted by the strongest, 5.6 magnitude, aftershock since March’s deadly earthquake.
According to AP, A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck on Sunday morning near Meiktila, a small city in central Myanmar, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake came as Myanmar is engaged in relief efforts following a massive 7.7 magnitude temblor that also hit the country’s central region on March 28.
The epicenter of the latest quake was roughly hallway between Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-biggest city, which suffered enormous damage and casualties in last month’s earthquake, and Naypyitaw, the capital, where several government offices were then damaged.
There were no immediate reports of major damage or casualties caused by the new quake, one of the strongest of hundreds of aftershocks from the March 28 temblor.
As of Friday, the death toll from that quake was 3,649, with 5,018 injured, according to Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, a spokesperson for Myanmar’s military government.
Myanmar’s Meteorological Department said Sunday’s quake occurred in the area of Wundwin township, 97 kilometers (60 miles) south of Mandalay, at a depth of 20 kilometers (12 miles). The U.S. Geological Survey estimated the depth at 7.7 km (4.8 miles).
The United Nations last week warned that damage caused by the March 28 quake will worsen the existing humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, where a civil war had already displaced more than 3 million people.
