Myanmar is one of the most seismically active regions in the world. Oblique subduction, block rotation, and a transform margin has been responsible for the seismic activities of the country. The Sagaing Fault is one of the largest sources of earthquakes in the country, having produced deadly quakes in the past centuries. Along the western coast, offshore Rahkine State, the Sunda Megathrust, where the Indian Plate dives beneath the Burma Plate is capable of producing large events and tsunamis like the 2004 earthquake. Intermediate depth earthquakes east of the Chin Range also pose a risk to people. The Shan Plateau is another source of earthquakes, hosting many active strike-slip faults that accommodate block rotation of the Sunda Plate.[1]

Notable earthquakes in the history of Myanmar include the following:

Earthquakes

Date Location Mag. MMI Depth (km) Deaths Injuries Notes
2023-06-07 Ma-ubin 4.8 mb  VII 10.0 3 Several buildings and a pagoda damaged in Ma-ubin. [2]
2022-07-21 Keng Tung 5.9 Mww  VII 5.0 Damage in Keng Tung. Also felt in China, Thailand, and Laos. [3]
2021-11-26 Hakha 6.2 Mww  VIII 42.5 1 Minor damage also occurred in Bangladesh. [4]
2018-01-11 Bago 6.0 Mww  VII 9.0 Felt strongly in many places. [5]
2017-03-13 Yangon 5.1 mb  VI 10.0 2 36 [6]
2016-08-24 Magway 6.8 Mw  VI 84.1 4 20 Several temples were damaged
2016-04-13 Sagaing 6.9 Mw  VI 134.8 2 120
2016-01-04 Imphal 6.7 Mww  VIII 55.0 11 200+
2014-05-23 Kachin 5.6 Mw  VII 8.0 15
2012-11-11 Sagaing 6.8 Mw  VIII 9.8 26 Many 12 missing
2011-03-24 Shan 6.9 Mw  IX 12.8 151 212
2011-03-10 Kachin 5.4 Mw  VII 10.0 26 313
2011-02-04 Monywa 6.4 Mw  VI 85.0 1 [7]
2009-08-11 Coco Islands 7.5 Mw  VII 24.0
2008-08-21 Kachin 6.0 Mw  VII 10.0 5 130
2007-12-25 Kachin 4.8 Mw  IV 35.0 19 Severe damage [8]
2004-12-26 Coco Islands 9.1–9.3 Mw  - 30.0 70–800 Rupture extended to the Coco Islands
2003-09-21 Magway 6.6 Mwb  VII 15.8 10 43 Damage at Taungdwingyi
1997-11-21 Chittagong 6.1 Mw  VI 54.4 23 200
1995-07-11 Shan 6.8 Mw  VIII 12.5 11 [9]
1991-01-05 Sagaing 7.0 Mw  VII 19.7 2 [10]
1988-11-06 Shan 7.2 Ms  X 15.9 Aftershock of the Lancang earthquake.
1988-11-06 Shan 7.7 Mw  IX 17.8 730–938 3,900 [11]
1988-08-06 Sagaing 7.3 Mw  VIII 98.1 3 30 Caused some damage in India and was felt in the Soviet Union. At least 30 injured or missing in Bangladesh. [12]
1976-05-29 Yunnan 7.0 Mw  10.0 98 2,400+
1975-07-08 Mandalay 7.0 Mw  VIII 106.8 2 15
1970-07-29 Sagaing 7.0 Mw  76.1 Damage at Assam. [13]
1956-07-16 Sagaing 7.1 Mw  VIII 34.3 38
1954-03-21 Sagaing 7.4 mb  180.0 Some damage reported in India. [14]
1952-06-19 Shan 6.7 Mw  VIII 10.0 Homes collapsed and landslides occurred in Yunnan. [15]
1950-08-15 Assam 8.6 Mw  XI 15.0 4,800 Rupture partially extended to Burma and was felt strongly [16]
1946-09-12 Sagaing 7.8 Mw  15.0 0 Doublet earthquake
1946-09-12 Sagaing 8.0 Mw  15.0 0
1943-10-23 Chin 7.2 [17]
1941-12-26 Shan 7.2 Mw  10.0 >6 [18]
1938-08-16 Chin 7.2 Ms  75.0 [19]
1932-08-14 Sagaing 7.0 Ms  110.0 Damage at Assam [20]
1931-01-27 Kachin 7.6 Mw  IX 15.0 0
1930-12-03 Bago 7.3 Mw X 10.0 36
1930-07-18 Irrawaddy 50 [21][22]
1930-05-05 Bago 7.5 Mw  X 35.0 558+ 204+ Tsunami
1929-08-08 Naypyidaw 6.6–7.1 Mw  10.0–15.0 Caused some damage. [23]
1929-01-19 Kachin 5.5 Ms  IX Damage at Htawgaw. [24]
1927-12-17 Yangon ~7.0 Mw  Severe damage in northern Yangon [25]
1923-06-22 Shan 7.2 Mw  25.0 [26]
1922-05-02 Shan 6.7 Mw  35.0 [27]
1917-07-05 Bago Shwemawdaw Pagoda fell.
1912-05-23 Shan 7.8Mw  IX 15–25.0 1(?) Several cities damaged [28]
1908-12-12 Kachin 7.2 Mw  15.0 [29][30]
1908-12-12 Kachin 7.2 Mw  15.0 [31]
1906-08 Northern Sagaing Fault 7.0 Mw  [32][33]
1906-06-24 Coco Islands 7.3 Muk [1] 60.0 km 0 [1][34]
1895/1896 Yangon Destroyed many buildings in Rangoon.
1858-08-24 Magway 7.7 Mw  ? An island disappeared. [35][36][37][1]
1843-10-30 Rahkine May have triggered a tsunami. [37]
1842-11-11 Rahkine Tsunami recorded at Cheduba Island. [37]
1848-01-03 Rahkine 6.8–7.2 Mw  ? Severe shaking at Ramree Island. [38][39]
1839-03-23 Mandalay 8.1–8.2 Mw  XI 12-15.0 500+ Former capital city Inwa destroyed and abandoned.
1762-04-02 Chittagong-Rahkine 8.8 Mw  XI 200+ Tsunami
1757-06-04 Bago [25]
1750 Rahkine [40]
1714-08-04 Sagaing Waves from a river flooded a nearby city. [41]
1620-06-06 Mandalay Fishes in the Irrawaddy River were killed. [25]
1564-09-13 Bago Mahazedi Pagoda destroyed. [25]
1485-07-24 Sagaing Several pagodas fell. [25]
1467 Innwa [42]
1429 Innwa [42]
Note: Only damaging, injurious, or deadly events should be recorded.

Tsunamis affecting Myanmar

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Yu Wang. "Earthquake Geology of Myanmar" (PDF). Dissertation – via Caltech.
  2. ^ "မအူပင်မြို့အနီးဗဟိုပြု ငလျင်လှုပ်ခတ် သီလရှင်နှစ်ဦးအပါအဝင် ၃ဦး အုတ်တံတိုင်းပိ၍သေဆုံးဟုကနဦးသတင်းရရှိ" (in Burmese). People's Spring. 7 June 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  3. ^ "M 5.9 - 53 km S of Kēng Tung, Myanmar". earthquake.usgs.gov.
  4. ^ "M 6.2 - 19 km SW of Hakha, Myanmar". earthquake.usgs.gov. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
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  27. ^ "Event 911885 Myanmar". International Seismological Centre.
  28. ^ "M 7.5 - Myanmar". Retrieved 2020-10-14.
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  30. ^ "Significant Earthquake Information". NOAA NCEI.
  31. ^ "M 7.3 - 62 km S of Bhamo, Myanmar". USGS.
  32. ^ Soe Thura Tun & Watkinson, I. M. 2016. The Sagaing Fault. In: BARBER, A. J., Rido, M. F., Khin Zaw & Rangin, C. (eds.) Myanmar: Geology, Resources and Tectonics. Geological Society, London, Memoir.
  33. ^ Xiong, X., B. Shan, Y. M. Zhou, S. J. Wei, Y. D. Li, R. J. Wang, and Y. Zheng (2017). "Coulomb stress transfer and accumulation on the Sagaing Fault, Myanmar, over the past 110 years and its implications for seismic hazard". Geophysical Research Letters. American Geophysical Union. 48 (10): 4781–4789. Bibcode:2017GeoRL..44.4781X. doi:10.1002/2017GL072770. hdl:10220/46403. S2CID 55509712.((cite journal)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  34. ^ "ISC Event 16957909". International Seismological Centre.
  35. ^ Oldham, Thomas (1883). "A Catalogue of Indian Earthquakes from the earliest time to the end of AD 1869". Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India. XIX, Part 3.
  36. ^ "January to June 1859; Serampore, Friends of India Press, 1859 March 1859; Page 8". The Calcutta Review. XXXII.
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