July 8, 1975 Earthquake: Pagan (Bagan), Myanmar

Strong intermediate earthquake whose macroseismic epicentre was located 100km south-east of Mandalay near Pagan, the ancient capital of Burma; severe damage was done to many large temples and pagodas of great archaeological interest, on the eastern bank of the Irrawady; among the 500 principal monuments in Pagan, more than half were damaged or destroyed by this earthquake, the strongest to have been felt in this area in the last 900 years. The area is thinly populated, and the loss of life was therefore slight; one person was killed and one injured. The shock was widely felt in Central Burma and in the Arakan; there was some damage to structures in the Chauk oil field. The total damage was estimated at $ 500,000, mostly in the Pagan area [5, 30]. (reference #1167)