Stone-Ideas.com

Myanmar (Burma) was hit by a devastating earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 around noon (local time) on March 28, 2025. The damage is enormous and there will probably be many fatalities.

Quakes with a magnitude 7 or above destroy buildings.

The earth tremors occurred along the Sagaing Fault, a crack that runs from north to south across Myanmar. Several large cities are located in this zone or in the immediate vicinity.

Two tectonic plates, the Indian and the Eurasian, are sliding past each other there. Jams in the rock are released by earth tremors.

The prehistory of the current earthquake began around 45 million years ago. Since then, the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates have been colliding. In the process, the former submerges under the latter. The result is the vast mountainous zone of the Himalayas, where the earth masses are compressed and bulge upwards.

The immense forces have also led to the formation of fissures in the wider area, where smaller parts of the plates move on their own.

In the sagaing-Fault in May 2023, had occured the last quake but only with a magnitude of 5.8.

The media reports that earthquake-proof construction is not mandatory in Myanmar.

The movement of the continental and oceanic plates, which make up the skin of the earth, is due to the great heat inside the planet. There, the rock is a kind of solid mush that moves upwards and back down again. The speed is tiny, but the forces are enormous. As a result, liquid rock is pushed up through these channels in vertical cracks and finds its way to the surface through volcanoes.

Where one plate dives under another (subduction), severe earthquakes are frequent.

The so-called “Ring of Fire” around the Pacific Plate, where there are many volcanoes, for example in Hawaii or in the Andes of Latin America, is famous as one of these zones.

United States Geological Service (USGS)

Pictures: USGS