Myanmar weighs damage after earthquake rattles Bagan pagodas

AFP, BAGAN, Myanmar: Myanmar took stock of toppled spires and crumbling temple walls in the ancient capital Bagan Thursday after a powerful earthquake hit the country, killing three and damaging the top tourist destination.
Two young girls and a man died in Magway region where the 6.8 magnitude quake struck Wednesday evening, cracking buildings across centre of the country and sending tremors that were felt as far away as Bangkok and Kolkata.
In nearby Bagan, home to a vast plain of some 2,500 Buddhist monuments that are among Myanmar’s most venerated religious sites, teams of government-dispatched engineers and architects surveyed damage to nearly 200 of the prized pagodas. “First we need to figure out the extent of the damage,” Arkar Kyaw, the deputy director of Myanmar’s culture ministry said.
“Then we will make a renovation plan,” he told AFP, adding that the government is working directly with UNESCO.

 

Myanmar weighs damage after earthquake rattles Bagan pagodas

AFP, BAGAN, Myanmar: Myanmar took stock of toppled spires and crumbling temple walls in the ancient capital Bagan Thursday after a powerful earthquake hit the country, killing three and damaging the top tourist destination. Two young girls and a man died in Magway region where the 6.8 magnitude quake struck Wednesday evening, cracking buildings across centre of the country and sending tremors that were felt as far away as Bangkok and Kolkata. In nearby Bagan, home to a vast plain of some 2,500 Buddhist monuments that are among Myanmars most venerated religious sites, teams of government-dispatched engineers and architects surveyed damage to nearly 200 of the prized pagodas. First we need to figure out the extent of the damage, Arkar Kyaw, the deputy director of Myanmars culture ministry said. Then we will make a renovation plan, he told AFP, adding that the government is working directly with UNESCO.