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Myanmar

Earthquake Monitoring Committee to be formed in Yangon

Posted by Myanmar News Agency

Yangon Region Government is forming an earthquake monitoring committee in order to reduce damages and to carry out rehabilitation activities, according to Yangon Region Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Department.

The committee has to be formed as Yangon Region has more and more buildings and its population has been rapidly increasing, proponents said.

U Win Shwe, Regional Officer of Yangon Region Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Deaprtment, said that the committee will be responsible for promotion of public awareness of earthquakes and development of earthquake preparedness and response plans, emergency medical preparedness and response plans and recovery and reconstruction plans.

In addition to the committee, the regional government will also form a technical working group made up of local and foreign experts and NGOs.

“The population and the number of buildings in Yangon are rapidly increasing. So we are forming the committee within six months to reduce damage in accordance with the decisions made at a workshop held in September,” said Dr Win Oo, an expert on reduction of impacts of natural disasters. Yangon City Development Committee, in cooperation with the Myanmar Engineering Society and the UN-Habitat, will also conduct seismic diagnosis tests on public buildings.

Yangon Region is located about 35 km from the Sagiang Fault and is vulnerable to earthquakes due to movements of the fault. The Myanmar Earthquake Committee has issued warning for preparedness. Other cities along the fault line include Myitkyina, Tagaung, Thabeikkyin, Sagaing, Mandalay, Naypyitaw, Toungoo, Pyu and Bago. All are vulnerable to earthquakes at any time.

The Myanmar Earthquake Commission has already conducted tests along the fault in Bago and Pyu, but it has yet to do so for other sections. Plans are also underway to conduct seismic tests in other areas in cooperation with international organisations, it is learnt.

Myanmar suffered from 15 earthquakes of a magnitude of 7 or more on the Richter Scale during the past century, including the Bago Earthquake in 1930, the Yangon Earthquake in 1970 and the Bagan Earthquake in 1975.

Myanmar also lies on other smaller faults such as the Kabaw Fault, the Hpapon Fault, the Kyaukkyaw Fault and many others. The most recent earthquake in Myanmar was the one that damaged many pagodas and the murals inside them dating back to 10th and 11th centuries in Bagan on 24 August. A total of 396 pagodas were damaged by the August earthquake.

Thabeikkyin Earthquake on 11 November, 2012 claimed 26 lives and destroyed 462 buildings, while the Tarley Earthquake brought down 1,229 buildings and killed 76 people. —Ko Moe