Using brooms and their hands, soldiers and residents of an ancient city famous for its historic Buddhist temples yesterday began cleaning up debris from a powerful earthquake that shook the region, damaging nearly 200 pagodas.
At least four people were killed and at least 171 pagodas were damaged in Bagan after a magnitude 6.8 quake struck the area on Wednesday. The tremor was centered about 25km west of Chauk, just south of Bagan.
The city is one of Myanmar’s top tourist attractions, drawing visitors from all over the world who can view a panorama of temples stretching to the horizon flanked by the Irrawaddy River.
Photo: AFP
Maria Gomez, a Portuguese tourist, said she was walking to the river to watch the sunset when “we felt the Earth moving. Everybody was very scared and everybody was shouting.”
“Only after maybe 30 seconds we realized what was happening,” she said.
Burmese President Htin Kyaw yesterday arrived in Bagan to assess the damage and speak with local officials about how to repair it.
The city has more than 2,200 structures, including pagodas and temples, constructed in the 10th to 14th centuries. Many are in disrepair while others have been restored in recent years, aided by the UNESCO.
According to the Burmese Ministry of Religion and Culture, 171 pagodas in Bagan were affected and 19 elsewhere in the country were damaged.
Zaw Naing, a caretaker at one of the city’s pagodas who paints and sells his work to tourists, said he was saddened by the damage — but also concerned that the quake could endanger the livelihood of villagers.
“I’m very worried ... there will be less tourists to Bagan,” Zaw Naing said. “I have three children to take care of.”
As he spoke, soldiers and residents were picking up broken red bricks with their hands and placing them in sacks. Others swept walkways leading to temples that had been engulfed in huge clouds of dust when the tremor struck and the tops of some of the pagodas collapsed.
Myanmar Earthquake Committee General-Secretary Myo Thanton on Wednesday said that other areas apparently were not badly affected.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs was in contact with authorities in Myanmar and was ready to support the government and local groups, he said.
Vincent Panzani, a staff member in Pakokku for the aid agency Save the Children, said that several of his colleagues from the area described the earthquake as the strongest they have experienced.
“We felt quite heavy shaking for about 10 seconds and started to evacuate the building when there was another strong tremor,” he said in an e-mail. “Most of the reports of damage have been to the pagodas in the area with dozens impacted.”
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