Quake jolts Myanmar’s Bagan pagodas, leaves 3 dead
Officials picked through the wreckage of toppled spires and crumbling temple walls in Myanmar’s ancient capital of Bagan on Thursday after a powerful earthquake rattled the top tourist destination, leaving three dead.
Clouds of dust settled over the damaged pagodas as officials took stock of the destruction caused by the 6.8 magnitude quake, which struck just south of the famous archaeological site on Wednesday, killing two young girls and a man in nearby towns.
Police blocked tourists from entering Bagan’s vast field of some 2,500 Buddhist monuments — among the country’s most venerated religious sites — as workers cleared piles of bricks and swept the grounds.
Officials said the quake damaged at least 185 pagodas — many around 1,000 years old — at the site, which is a top attraction for foreign tourists flocking to the country as it emerges from decades of military rule.
The UNESCO office in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, has deployed experts to assess the damage, said office head Sardar Umar Alam.
The government is also sending teams from its culture and geology departments, he added.
Bagan’s vast expansive of temple ruins — which make for a staggering sunset vista — have survived wars, earthquakes and centuries of tropical sun.
In its heyday the city, which was the capital of a powerful kingdom from the 9th to 13th centuries, was one of Asia’s most important centres for learning.
The last major quake to damage the site struck in 1975 and was followed by a controversial restoration effort under the military junta that stepped down in 2011.
Experts said the haphazard renovation work, much of it hastily done with modern materials, significantly altered the original architecture and design of some monuments.
This year Myanmar is on track to welcome 5.5 million tourists, nearly a million more than 2015, according to Tint Thwin, director-general of Ministry of Hotels and Tourism.
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Source:The Hindu
