Three small tremors in Yangon this week could be aftershocks of an earthquake felt in the city on January 12 or else the precursor to a bigger one, seismologists have said.
The Myanmar Earthquake Committee said the initial quake, which measured 4.8 on the Richter scale and hit near Yangon Region’s Latkhone village, was followed by three smaller tremors.
U Myo Thant, secretary of the organization, told the Myanmar Times that the tremors were linked to the southern part of the Sagaing faultline.
Experts believe they are aftershocks but, if they continue over the next fortnight, a bigger quake could be on the way.
“We are still monitoring the phenomenon,” said U Myo Thant.
The last major quake alone the southern Sagaing fault – one of four major faultlines in Myanmar – was in 1930 and left 50 people dead.
Back then, the city’s population was just 500,000. Now, that number has risen to more than five million.
Experts have warned that the former capital is woefully underprepared to deal with another major quake.
