Two magnitude 7.0 quakes hit Myanmar - USGS

Source: reuters // Reuters

Credit: USGS ShakeMap of earthquake in Myanmar, 13:55 GMT, Mar. 24, 2011. US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY (USGS)

WASHINGTON, March 24 (Reuters) - Two strong quakes of magnitude 7.0 struck northeast Myanmar, close to the Thai and Laotian borders, the U.S. Geological Survey reported on Thursday.
It said the quakes struck seconds apart at 8:25 a.m. on Friday (1355 GMT on Thursday) and were centered 69 miles (111 km) north of Chiang Rai in neighboring Thailand. The first one was very shallow, at a depth of 6.2 miles (10 km), while the second one was deeper at 142.5 miles (230 km).
It is a sparsely populated, hilly area best known as the Golden Triangle, which is a traditional source of illicit opium.
(Reporting by Sandra Maler and David Storey; Editing by Bill Trott)