The 6.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Myanmar on Wednesday killed at least three people and damaged nearly 200 structures in Bagan, an ancient city of pagodas and stupas built by royal leaders from the 10th to the 14th centuries.
“It’s like we lost something from our home,” local vendor Ko Thein Swe, 47, told Coconuts Yangon on Friday, standing by Saydanargyi pagoda, which can be seen in the first images below. “We felt really sorry when we heard about the earthquake.”
The full extent of the damage is not clear, but the clean-up is well underway and tourists are drifting back to the sites. Coconuts Yangon multimedia reporter Aung Naing Soe has been on the scene and took these photos of the aftermath on Friday and Saturday.
The crown of the Saydanargyi pagoda.
The side of the Saydanargyi pagoda.
The Sular Muni pagoda, whose uppermost peak collapsed.
Soldiers and workers helped clean up the rubble in the aftermath of the earthquake.
Parts of the destroyed facade of the Sular Muni pagoda.
The gate of the Dhamma Yangyi pagoda, one of Bagan’s more famous structures, sustained damage
Khin Saw Wai, a 45-year-old shopkeeper at the Dhamma Yangyi pagoda, was there when the quake hit.
“Some tourists were shocked, some cried. I am sad, I also want to cry,” he said.
On Saturday, the clean-up was still going on, with workers and volunteers spread out at the Sular Muni pagoda.
Min Aung Hlaing, the commander in chief of Myanmar’s armed forces, visited the same pagoda on Saturday to view the damage.
The Sular Muni pagoda was hit particularly bad.
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