section_path: Earthquake
section_name: Earthquake
paragraph_text: Earthquake
  
  The earthquake occurred at 12:50:52 MMT, with its epicenter located in Sagaing Township near the Sagaing – Mandalay border region, 14 km (8.7 mi) north-northwest of Sagaing city and 16 km (9.9 mi) west of Mandalay, Myanmar's second largest city. It measured 7.7 on the moment magnitude scale according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), while the Thai Meteorological Department put the local magnitude (M) at 8.2. Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris placed the earthquake's moment magnitude at 7.9. The China Earthquake Administration recorded the earthquake at 7.9 on the surface-wave magnitude. It is the largest earthquake with an epicenter in Myanmar since the 1912 Maymyo earthquake (which had an M of 7.9). The focal mechanism solution indicated it occurred due to strike-slip faulting at a depth of 10 km (6.2 mi). The type of faulting is consistent with rupture on the Sagaing Fault.
  
  The earthquake was followed by more than 468 aftershocks by 12 April, according to the Thai Meteorological Department. These aftershocks were recorded in Myanmar and nearby regions including 13 events between magnitude 5.0 and 5.9. There were also 21 aftershocks recorded in Mae Hong Son with magnitudes of 1.4 to 3.9. These aftershocks in Myanmar were distributed along a 400 km (250 mi) zone of the Sagaing Fault, though they were sparse along the central portion of the rupture. The largest aftershock measured M 6.7 and occurred 12 minutes after the mainshock with a hypocenter beneath Mandalay International Airport. This aftershock also had a focal mechanism corresponding to strike-slip faulting.