A seismologist told CNN that the powerful 7.7-magnitude quake that rocked Myanmar is like a “great knife cut into the Earth.”
James Jackson, from the University of Cambridge in England, said the earthquake was caused by a rupture that lasted for “a full minute,” causing sideways movements on the ground.
“Think of a piece of paper tearing, and it tears at about two kilometers per second,” he said.
“It’s moving a fault, which is like a great knife cut in the Earth,” he added.
He said while Bangkok doesn’t have earthquakes, its tall buildings make the city particularly vulnerable to distant tremors.