Strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake rattles northern Thailand

By: 10 years ago

BANGKOK — A strong, shallow 6.0-magnitude earthquake rattled northern Thailand on Monday afternoon, geologists said, shaking tall buildings in Bangkok hundreds of miles to the south.

The quake, at a shallow depth of 7.4 kilometers (4.5 miles), struck just after 6 pm local time (1100 GMT), around 27 kilometers (17 miles) from the mountainous northern city of Chiang Rai, the US Geological Survey said in a statement.

There were no immediate reports of damage.

The area is a remote mountain retreat popular with foreign tourists near to the border with Myanmar and Laos.

The quake was felt as far south as Bangkok, 800 kilometers (500 miles) to the south, where tall buildings shook for several seconds.

It was also felt in the Myanmar capital of Yangon, an AFP reporter there said.

Major earthquakes are rare in Thailand, although tremors frequently strike the northern portion of the country.