YANGON, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar is due to hold its second earthquake forum in Yangon later on Friday with the aim of sharing information about earthquake, increasing community awareness on earthquake preparedness and response.
The two-day forum, organized by the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement and Yangon region government, comes in wake of small and medium earthquakes that frequently hit Myanmar in the first three months of this year.
Experts called for reviewing and strengthening earthquake preparedness and response capacity to reduce quake damage through emergency planing and organizing key players to establish quick and effective response mechanisms and plans for Yangon region.
Earthquakes are significant hazard in Myanmar, which is located on geological faults such as Sagaing, Kyaukkyan and Rakhine faults.
Myanmar's biggest earthquake, measuring 8.2 on the Richter scale, occurred in 1912 along the Kyaukkan fault in Shan state, while in April and August 2016, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck some townships in Sagaing region and another one hit Chauk of Magway region, resulting in lots of damage to many pagodas and temples in Bagan in central Myanmar.
In January this year, a 6.0-magnitude earthquake also jolted Phyu township in Bago region.
