Myanmar (Burma) Hit By a Magnitude 6.8 Earthquake

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake hit Myanmar (Burma) on Thursday night, March 24, 2011. It was felt as far as 479 miles away in Bangkok, Thailand

The epicenter was reported to be in a relatively rural part of the country that borders on China, Laos, and Thailand.

Unlike the recent earthquake in Japan, the Myanmar earthquake poses very little risk of creating a tsunami because the epicenter is so far inland.

A screenshot from earthquake.usgs.gov:

The Philippine Azkals, who are currently in Yangon, Myanmar for the AFC Challenge Cup group qualifying tournament, were reported to be in the 9th floor of a hotel building when the earth shook. Anton Del Rosario tweeted he even thought it was vertigo. Luckily they are all safe as per report by sportscaster Dyan Castillejo who is currently with the Azkals in Myanmar.

The Azkals were also in Japan during the March 11 earthquake. They spent a number of days there to practice in cold weather before they headed to Mongolia for the second leg of their pre-qualifying match.

As Anton Del Rosario joked in the same tweet, could the earthquake really be following them?