THE PYU EARTHQUAKES of 3RD

AND 4TH

DECEMBER 1930 AND

SUBSEQUENT BURMA EARTHQUAKES UP TO JANUARY 1932

J. COGGIN BROWN AND P. LEICESTER [1933]

Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India Volume LXII Part 1

On the 5th May 1930 at about 08.18 PM a violent earthquake practically destroyed the

town of Pegu with great loss of life. It also caused many deaths and considerable damage

to property in Rangoon. The region of maximum intensity within which this earthquake

reached degree IX of the R-F scale, measured approximately 375 sq miles within the

Pegu and Hanthawaddy districts. It was followed by the usual crop of small aftershocks

which were felt within and about the area, but later the main center of seismic activity in

this part of Burma moved into the neighbourhood of Pado, a place situated in latitude 18°

02′ and longitude 96° 36′, 48 miles north of Pegu and close to the steep eastern flank of

the Pegu Yoma. Here 13 separate earthquakes, mainly of slight intensity were recorded in

the six months from July to December 1930. A smarter shock on September 16th cracked

the walls of the Police Station in Pado and was felt over an area extending at least 60

miles to the southeast. A series of violent shocks occurred further north still on the night

and early morning of December 3rd and 4

th, the severest of which wrecked the

masonry buildings in the town of Pyu and caused about 30 deaths.

At 10.15 PM [BST] on the night of December 3rd, the inhabitants of Pyu, a small

town in the Toungoo district, 134 miles from Rangoon on the main line of the Burma

Railways from Rangoon to Mandalay, were startled by a smart earthquake which

caused general panic and lasted about 5 seconds. This shock appears to have been felt

as far north as Pyinmana in the adjoining district of Yamethin. To the south it was

recorded by most observers in the Pegu, Thaton and Amherst districts.

A severe shock occurred at Pyu at 11.06 PM accompanied like the earlier one, by a

noise resembling the roaring of the wind. This the 2nd

earthquake of the series, while not

disturbing a very much larger land area than the first one, was described by most as a

stronger shock than the first. Its northern limit again appears to have been near Pyinmana

[19° 42′: 96° 12′]. While the first shock was noticed in Rangoon, the second shock was

not felt there.

At 01.22 AM on the morning of December 4th, the town was shaken by a violent

earthquake, which in the neighbourhood of Pyu itself equaled in intensity that felt at

Pegu on May 5th of the same year. Later investigation in the field located the epicenter of

this shock at between 4 and 6 miles to the WSW of Pyu, but in the town it was strong

enough to destroy utterly most of the brick buildings with a resulting death roll of some

30 persons and many injured. Numerous aftershocks occurred during the night until 05.10

AM, and at intervals for some considerable time afterwards.

The earthquake was felt throughout a great part of Burma, the Federated Shan States and

Siam. The minimum area over which it was sensible approximates 220,000 sq miles. In

the epicentral tract to the west of Pyu, it attained an intensity of degree X on the R-F

scale and was felt as far north and south on the coast as Akyab and Mergui respectively;

its outer limits in this direction pass into the Bay of Bengal. In central Burma it was

scarcely felt to the west of Irrawaddy river and it was not reported from the Cnindwin

valley or the Arakan Hill tracts. Its outer limit in the north follows the Irrawaddy north of

Mandalay, whence curving round to include Mogok and Momeik, it enters the Shan

States, where it caused widespread disturbances as far east as Keng Tung [21° 12′: 99°

36′]. It was felt throughout Siam with the exception of the far eastern and southern

provinces.

Origin Time: 18h51m31s [GMT]

Epicenter: The position of the epicenter was determined with a fair degree of accuracy

by field observations of intensity and directions of swinging lamps etc. and overturned

objects. It is situated in the neighbourhood of Kindangyi [18° 28′: 96° 23′].

Focal Depth: Shallow Crustal

Foreshocks:

Following the Pegu earthquake of May 5th 1930, a number of places within its epicentral

tract such as Pegu itself, Ohne and Kawa, experienced their fair share of aftershocks, but

before long, the most active center of seismic disturbance associated with the line of

weakness which is believed to be responsible for both the Pegu and Pyu earthquakes was

in the vicinity of Pado [18° 02′: 96° 36′]. Slight tremors were recorded here on

December 3rd

at 9.55, 10.03, 11.01 and 11.15 PM. An examination of the list of

earthquakes recorded in Burma for the months preceding the Pyu earthquakes, however,

does not warrant identification of anyone of them as a premonitory indication of the Pyu

shocks. The Pyu earthquakes are identical with the Pegu one in one respect. At the same

time, the linear distribution of the vast majority of earthquakes which have happened in

Lower Burma since the Swa shock of August 8th 1929, have clearly demonstrated the

development of a zone of instability at or about the junction of the Tertiary rocks of the

plains with the crystalline and Older Palaeozoic formations of the highland to the east,

and regarded as a broad problem from a general point of view, any of the lengthy series

of shocks which have taken place in this zone from the middle of 1929 to the beginning

of 1932, may be regarded as a foreshock or for that matter as an aftershock of the others

next to it in time. The point to be emphasized here is that no circumscribed weak shocks

or tremors shortly preceding the Pyu earthquakes occurred so far, as is known within the

limits of their epicentral areas.

ISOSEISTS X AND IX:

The innermost isoseismal line encloses an area of approximately 500 sq miles, over the

greater portion of which the shock reached an intensity of IX on the R-F scale. Sufficient

evidence does exist, however to make certain that in a small limited area to the west and

WSW of Pyu, in the vicinity of Kindangyi, the earthquake was extremely severe indeed.

It lies in and about the foot of the hills which border the Pyu plain on the west and form a

well defined and remarkably straight wall-like ridge or escarpment which runs N9W for

many miles north and south of Pyu. From 2 miles south of Pyu, a 4 mile railway line

connects the Kindangyi quarry settlement. Severe buckling of the line occurred at two

places, which appeared in one case to indicate a horizontal movement of at least 2.5 feet

towards SSW. Large cracks opened parallel to the general direction of the line, while in

another position the surrounding ground was literally churned up and pitted in all

directions by sand vents. Further to the east near Obogon, vertical movements had

complicated the horizontal ones, both leaving their records in the twisted rails and

bunched up groups of sleepers. Masses of rock fell from the quarry faces and the

surrounding thin layer of soil at the foot of the hills was cracked by small fissures. In the

deeper alluvium, further east, the cracks attained a greater size and in places became

chasms in the ground, 4 to 5 feet across, and some hundred of yards in length. The only

structure which escaped total destruction in the area was the explosives magazine, a small

low masonry building, with thick stone walls set in cement, of almost monolithic

construction built on an outlying spur. The quarry manager’s bungalow, with a lower

portion of brick and an upper one of wood was left a complete ruin, the solid masonry

steps leading from the ground to the top floor alone remained standing amidst the general

wreckage. The few pagodas in the vicinity were entirely destroyed. Some of the mat and

bamboo huts in the settlement appeared to have been bodily overthrown and in others to

have totally collapsed on the spot. Reports of similarly damaged huts in the region to the

west of Zeyawadi [19° 33′: 96° 26′] as for example at Hastinapur, and to the NW of

Penwegon [18° 12′: 96° 36′] give some indication of the approximate limits of the

epicentral tract to the north and south of Kindangyi respectively.

At Pyu the shock was slighter than it was in the area just described yet even here it was

sufficient to destroy utterly most of the brick buildings in the town. The ones which

escaped were new and well built semi-pucca or brick-nogged types. The greater

proportion of houses and all the mills at Pyu are constructed of wood or wood and

corrugated iron; beyond slight tilting, the fall of projecting lean-to shelters and heavy

ornamental work, or the frequent slipping of tiles or shingles from roofs, such structures

withstood the earthquake. Mosques, temples and pagodas suffered complete destruction

and in the cases of masonry dwelling houses where walls or portions of them were left

standing at all, they were generally in shattered condition. In some extreme cases two-

storied dwelling houses appeared to have been literally hurled to the ground, falling

almost flat in low heaps of bricks, plaster and splintered beams. Foundations of heavy

mill machinery were cracked and shifted. Parts of the bazaar and court houses were

destroyed while high factory chimneys, walls, pillars, water towers and piles of bricks

were thrown down. The wooden railway station appears to have rocked about and the

tiles slid from the roof. In the station yard a train of 13 heavy trucks capsized over

towards the west while five other wagons were derailed.

Low tracts of ground sank and were flooded with oozy mixtures of sand and water.

Cracking of alluvium and of roads and railway embankments, particularly near the sides

of streams, was frequent. The three bridges crossing the Pyu river just to the north of the

town were wrecked. Piers were twisted and fractured or thrown from the vertical, while

the ends of some girders fell off their trusses and dropped down into the stream.

Abutments were thrust inwards and the surrounding ground cracked, or folded into waves

which twisted the permanent way and caused it in some places to sink several feet.

The small towns of Nyaungchidauk and Nyaungbintha, 8 and 6 miles to the north and

south of Pyu respectively, are included within isoseismal IX. All the four masonry

buildings at Nyaungchidauk were damagedwith two almost completely destroyed. The

brick foundations of the timber post supporting the railway station office were badly

cracked horizontally. Foundations of a railway bridge were fractured and the upper

broken portions pushed over their vases. The top section of the high local pagoda

collapsed. At Nyaungbintha the single pucca building was badly damaged; a high pagoda

was cracked at the top and a smaller one thrown over. The wooden railway office was

tilted to the SSE.

ISOSEIST VIII:

This includes the greater portion of the northern half of the Toungoo district and about

one quarter of the northern part of Pegu district. More or less parallel to the inner oval

formed by the higher lines in the south, it departs considerably from their shape in the

north and northeast and includes a total area of about 4,200 sq miles. The line cannot be

completed on the west owing to the absence of reports from the uninhabited forests of the

Central Pegu Yoma in that direction. The main line of the Burma Railways enters it

between Kyauktaga and Penwegon [18° 12′: 96° 36′] and leaves it near Swa [19° 16′:

96° 18′] in the north, a total distance of 80 miles. It includes the main trunk road between

Rangoon and Mandalay for much the same length, the road from Toungoo [18° 54′: 96°

24′], to the hill station of Thandaung [19° 00′: 96° 42′] and besides Toungoo itself most

of the important towns in the same district. In the area the shock was of a very strong

character and severe cracking resulted in many cases. Fissuring of alluvial ground and the

issue of sand and water from crater-lets is also still a prominent feature. The small town

of Kywebwe [18° 46′: 96° 24′], 15 miles north of Pyu, suffered severely yet the

proportion of houses which escaped with minor damage is sufficient indication of the

lesser intensity of the shock. Every wall of the brick-built bazaar fell, a result which

causes no surprise when the type of the structure is considered. The intensity of the

earthquake in Zeyawaddi [19° 33′: 96° 26′] probably did not exceed degree VIII,

although it is only 4 miles north of Pyu and although Nyaungchidauk, 4 miles further

north still, has to be included within the next higher isoseismal. Minor cracking of a large

semi-pucca house, tilting of wooden paddy store-sheds, disturbances of stacks of bricks,

fissuring of the railway station platform and the formation of sand vents in alluvium

comprise the results at Zeyawaddi. In Banbwegon [18° 44′: 96° 24′] and Oktwin [18°

48′: 96° 24′], fissures were made in alluvial ground, plaster fell from the walls of houses

while cupboards and lamps were knocked over.

The veranda of a house in Toungoo bazaar collapsed and fell into the street, while

cracking of the walls of brick buildings was fairly common. Most of the local pagodas

were damaged. Cracking of the banks of the Sittang and its tributaries and the formation

of sand crater-lets were widespread. The hill station of Thandaung lies on gneissic rocks

at an elevation of 4308 feet, 29 miles ENE of Toungoo. The Circuit house and Inspection

bungalow, single storied buildings of granite blocks in mortar, were severely damaged

and rendered uninhabitable. The masonry pillars of the Police station were cracked and

the walls of the Watch tower shattered. The walls of the tea factory were cracked in

places and a chimney had to be dismantled. Bricks fell from walls and furniture was

knocked over in the post office. Little or no damage appears to have been caused to

timber houses. At Shwenyaungbin, 22 miles on the Thandaung road from Toungoo, a

stone building showed cracked walls and collapse of an arch over a door. At Yedashe

[19° 06′: 96° 24′], 18 miles north of Toungoo, the walls of brick houses, either partly

broken down or extensively cracked. The bed of a canal was raised and the flow of

water stopped. From the southern Leiktho hills in the same neighbourhood, came the

reports of cracked ridges and collapsed granaries. North of Yedashe alluvial ground was

fissured and the erupted water flooded the local fields for several days. At Pyonchaung a

brick pillar collapsed and the pagoda was damaged. Further north near Swa [19° 16′: 96°

18′], two railway bridges were damaged and the volume of water flowing into the local

streams was noticeably increased. Fissuring of the banks of streams, the formation of

sand vents in alluvial ground and damage to the upper portions of pagodas were prevalent

throughout the region.

Kanyutkwin [18° 18′: 96° 30′] , 11 miles SSE of Pyu, presented a curious contrast in that

while various brick and plaster houses remained unhurt another of the same type was

ruined. Certain walls of the brick built bazaar collapsed, the remainder, as well as portion

of the Police station were shattered. In the case of Penwegon [18° 12′: 96° 36′], a town in

the Pegu district, 20 miles SSE of Pyu, heavy ornaments and roof balconies fell from the

Mosque, while various houses and other buildings, including the bazaar, were cracked.

The greater part of a high pagoda near the town was thrown down. Cracks in the alluvium

and sand fissures occurred both in Penwegon itself and at many places in the

neighbourhood. Roads and a railway embankment were reported to have sunk near the

town. At one locality in the Yoma forests, 35 miles west of Penwegon, bamboo huts,

specially supported and strengthened by props after the second shock, tilted and collapsed

during the third. At Phado, a village 12 miles NW of Nyaunglebin [18° 00′: 96° 42′] a

brick cottage was badly damaged; a few wooden houses fell over towards the north and

large cracks with erupting mud opened in the ground.

ISOSEIST VII:

This isoseist marks the limit within which damage of a minor character to brick structures

occurred. Throughout it the third shock of the series was still sufficiently strong to cause

general alarm, overthrow moveable objects from walls, shelves and stables and crack the

tops of pagodas. It includes the major portion of the Pegu district, the northern half of

Tharrawaddy, and parts of Prome, Toungoo, Yamethin, the Southern Shan States,

Karenni, Papun and Thaton. Including the trans-frontier (Siam) extension the total area

under the isoseist was not less than 28,800 sq miles.

The towns along the main railway line in the Pegu district from a few miles north of Pegu

[17° 18′: 96° 30′] to Kyauktaga [18° 12′: 96° 36′], lie within this area. Almost all the

brick buildings in Kyauktaga were cracked. The hospital, already damaged by the Pegu

earthquake of May 5th, was rendered unsafe. At Nyaunglebin cracking was caused in

masonry walls over lintels and arches while plaster fell from others. At Pyuntaza [17°

48′: 96° 42′] telephone wires were wrenched from walls, brick buildings were cracked

and many small objects overturned. Discharges of sand from fissures in the alluvium

ruined small areas of ripe paddy in Daik-u. Further east at Myitkyo [17° 36′: 96° 49′], the

wooden post office was slightly moved out of position. At Kyaikto [17° 18′: 97° 00′], in

the Thaton district, slight cracking was caused to some walls, old cracks re-opened and

brick-nogged panels were loosened. In southeastern Toungoo, at Shwegyin [17° 54′: 96°

54′] the walls of the bazaar, of a zayat and of various houses, including one built of

laterite blocks in cement, were cracked. One pagoda fell and another damaged. Images

were thrown down and much plaster and many small objects fell. Portions of the high

banks of the Sittang river at Dalazeik caved in. From Kyaukkyi came reports of earth

fissures with the usual accompaniment of exuded sand and water. The record room at

Papum, the headquarters of the Salween district, was damaged.

Turning to the western portion of the area, an old brick building partially collapsed at

Minhla [17° 54′: 95° 42′] in the Tharrawaddy district, the portico of a house was shifted

at Waing in the Minhla Township; old cracks were enlarged in the Roman Catholic

School at Thonze. Further to the northwest, at Paungde [18° 30′: 95° 30′] in the Prome

district, many articles were overturned in the houses while the walls of the brick-built

bazaar were cracked. At Padigon in the same district, cracks appeared in the walls of a

masonry house and a pagoda was damaged. From Paukkaung [18° 54′: 95° 34′] in the

same district, came the report of the cracking of concrete floor of the Township Officer’s

house.

Isoseismal VII is extended across the Irrawaddy into the Henzada district to include the

town of Kyangin [18° 20′: 95° 15′] where all the walls of the dispensary building were

ceacked and the front wall of the Surgeon’s office pushed out of the perpendicular. In the

northern part of the area the banks of a wide stream, 18 miles west of Swa, in the

Toungoo district, were fissured. A pagoda collapsed at Thagaya and the upper portion of

another at Maidat was crushed. In the Yamethin district, the walls of the court House at

Lewe [19° 36′: 96° 06′] were damaged and slight cracking caused to houses in

Pyinmana. The extreme northern limit of this isoseist includes the hill station of Kalaw

[20° 38′: 96° 30′] in the Southern Shan States where the brick walls of the Police Station

and of various houses were cracked.

ISOSEIST VI:

Outside the seventh isoseismal line and following it through the country lies a zone

within which the third and greatest shock, though it caused practically no damage to

buildings, was still fairly severe, resulting in the general awakening of sleeping persons,

of a certain amount of panic in cities where the memory of the terrible results of the Pegu

earthquake is still fresh, in the stopping of clocks, the tinkling of pagoda bells, the

rustling of trees and the disturbance of birds and animals. It is not an easy matter to

decide on the outer limit of this zone, the line where the third earthquake lost the last

traces of severity and beyond which it can only be regarding as a moderate shock fading

away into feebleness and passing unnoticed by the majority of people as the distance

from its epicenter increased.

In the south the delineation of the area commences in the Thaton district, for there is not

sufficient evidence available from Siam to carry it across the frontier, curves across the

Sittang estuary and striking NW forms a belt of country some 20-25 miles wide and

traversing southern Pegu, northern Insein, and southern Tharrawaddy, where it crosses

Irrawaddy into Henzada. The forests of the Arakan Yoma prevent its delineation in the

west, but it is possible to draw the line again from Allanmyo, in Thayetmyo, whence it

crosses the Pegu Yomas striking NE, more or less parallel to the next inner line, into the

Yamethin district. In the NE, an intensity of the same degree is indicated by our reports

from the smaller Shan States which lie to the south and east of Taunggyi. Completing the

curve with an arbitrary line the area enclosed by this isoseist approximates 46,800 square

miles.

OTHER EARTHQUAKES IN BURMA DURING 1930- 1931- January 1932

The Shwebo Earthquake of December 4, 1930

Some time between 12.30 and 01.00 PM on December 4th an earthquake took place in

Upper Burma which had no apparent connection with the series of aftershocks belonging

to the Pyu earthquakes themselves. In Shwebo it was strong enough to cause house

timbers to creak and hanging lamps to swing. At Katha it was felt in three distinct phases,

moving from east to west and lasting 65 seconds; violent at first but gradually

diminishing with very short pauses between the vibrations. Here it was strong enough to

rock the brick Court House though nothing was upset or overturned. Other places from

where this earthquake was reported include: Tantabin, Kanbalu and Ngazane in Shwebo

district; Tada-U and Myinmu in Sagaing district; Kyaukse; Maymyo in Mandalay

district; Panghai in North Hsenwi, Mong Tung, Hsipaw in Northern Shan States; and

Kehsi Mansam in Southern Shan States.

8. SHWEBO

04.12.1930

7. KYAUKSE

21° 36′: 96° 12′

19.08.1931

6. PYINMANA

19° 42′: 96° 12′

10.08.1931

5. SWA 19° 16′: 96° 18′

08.08.1929

4. PYU

18° 24′: 96° 24′

04.12.1930

3. PADO

18° 03′: 96° 34′

16.09.1930

2. DAIKU

17° 48′: 96° 42′

04.05.1931

1. PEGU 17° 18′: 96° 30′

05.05.1930

On August 10, 1931 at about 04.50 PM, a violent earthquake shook Pyinmana, a town

in the Yamethin district, 91 miles north of Pyu. The shock was certainly the most severe

that has been experienced in this town. At least 6 brick buildings sustained damage in

varying degree. It was felt as far north as Mandalay and was reported from Thanatpin

[17° 18′: 96° 36′] Township of Pegu in the south. The distance, north and south, over which it

was sensible to human beings, was at least 350 miles. It indicates a disturbance in the northern

part of the same seismic zone to which the Swa, Pegu and Pyu earthquakes belong, and which, as

far as the present generation is concerned, had hitherto been remarkably free from such

occurrences.

Another migration further north is indicated by the smart Kyaukse [34 miles north of Pyinmana

and 26 miles south of Mandalay] earthquake of August 19, 1931, which was strong enough to

cause minor cracking to buildings in Mandalay and to knock light articles over in Kalaw.

A rather severe earthquake was felt at Amherst [16° 00′: 97° 36′] at about 08.55 AM on

August 6, 1931. Its duration was about 2 to 3 seconds; objects such as tumblers and bottles fell

and the pendulums of clocks were stopped. There have been no less than 8 earthquake shocks felt

between 08.47 AM on August 6th and 12.55 AM on August 9

th, 5 of them being of a severe

nature. The first one on the 6th was the most severe; tumblers, bottles and pictures in many houses

being thrown down. A large mango tree was uprooted in the village, and the top of the pagoda

near the Post office was wrenched off and fell on the road.

At 11.00 AM, January 5th, 1932, an earthquake of short duration was felt at all places

between Pyuntaza [17° 48′: 96° 42′] and Toungoo [18° 54′: 96° 24′], and, that at 11.17 PM on

January 13th, 1932, Toungoo and all places between Nangyun, 14 miles north of that town and

Pyu, 32 miles south, were visited by another shock. At Toungoo itself this one was severe enough

to arouse even heavy sleepers. At 11.22PM a gentle tremor followed. People working in forest

areas of Pegu Yoma, about 20 miles west of Kanyutkwin [18° 18′: 96° 30′], reported two more

slight intensity shocks in the night of 22nd

and 27th January.

GEOLOGICAL CONDITIONS

The epicentral tract enclosed by Isoseist IX of the main Pyu earthquake is made up of

Tertiary rocks of Oligo- Miocene age (Pegu series) which in the vicinity of Kindangyi

consist of faulted, folded and slikensided sandstone and shale. The two earlier shocks

undoubtedly originated in the same area. It is narrow elliptical area and its long axis

coincides more or less with a definite wall-like ridge or escarpment, which runs in a

remarkably straight N9W for some miles north and south of Pyu. The town lies on the

alluvium of the Sittang plain at an elevation of 150 feet above sea level, 5.5 miles in a

straight line to the east from the edge of the ridge, which attains heights culminating in

khengdan, 1754 feet above the sea. The top of the escarpment is fairly regular, and 20

miles to the north it is still 1505 feet high. It is to be noted that waterfalls have formed

where it is crossed by easterly flowing tributaries of the Sittang or their branches. The

more important of these are the Pyu and Kun chaungs, affluents of which have falls of 43

and 140 feet respectively, near the top of the ridge. Falls of 100 feet are common in other

small streams. Such features are very unusual in areas occupied by Pegu rocks and the

opinion is hazarded that the ridge probably marks a pronounced fault scarp.

East of Pyu the alluvial plain of the Sittang stretches for another 20 miles where it is

bordered by the outlying spurs of the Karen hills. These in the next few miles attain

heights of over 6000 feet above sea level along the line of crests which separates the

Toungoo district from Papun and from the independent state of Kyebogyi in Karenni.

Beyond the fact that the outer hills are made up of crystalline rocks- mainly of a

gneissose character and often with coarse granite intrusions, and that further towards the

east, representatives of the older Palaeozoic systems of the Shan States and of their

underlying Precambrian floor occur, nothing is known of this region which still remains

to be geologically surveyed.

Somewhere under the alluvium lies the faulted junction of the Tertiaries with the

crystalline rocks, a fault or fault zone which is believed to continue as far as its land

course is concerned, from the mouth of the Sittang to the northern part of the Shwebo

district, a distance of over 400 miles, beyond which it has still to be traced. To the south

the junction is entirely hidden under alluvial deposits of the Samon and Sittang valleys.

The great escarpment of the Shan plateau, including the Karen hills, forms the most

striking structural feature of the Burmo-Malayan region. Its faulted boundary forms a

complete break where the Tertiary rocks of Burma finish abruptly on the east and give

place to an entirely different series strata, which stretches across the Shan States and far

into the Chinese Provinces beyond. Further work will probably prove that the outer fault

is not mere boundary fault in the ordinary sense of the word, but that it marks a limit

beyond which the deposition of the Burmese Tertiary rocks did not extend.

It is known that Amarapura, the capital of the Burmese kingdom before it was deserted

for Mandalay, was wrecked by an earthquake, while Burmese history relates how a

similar fate befell Pegu before it was taken from the Talaings. Far at least 50 years

however, and probably for a much longer period, Central and Lower Burma have enjoyed

freedom from disastrous earthquakes originating in this zone, though they may have from

time to time felt the effects of more distant earthquakes both in the Shan States, the

Frontier Region and Assam. This period of tranquility ended on the 8th August 1929, in

the very severe but local shock of Swa. Early in 1930, the senior writer (C.B) of his

report warned the Government of Burma that in his opinion, a period of violent seismic

disturbances was to be expected and requested that full accounts of all local shocks

should be recorded by responsible officials and sent to Geological Survey of India

Office in Rangoon for investigation.

On May 5th, 1930, the Pegu earthquake occurred with appalling suddenness. This ruined

a considerable portion of the town with loss of over 500 lives. The main center of activity

then moved into the neighbourhood of Pado [18° 02′: 96° 36′] 48 miles north of Pegu.

Between July and December 1930, 13 slight intensity shocks were recorded and on September 10

a smarter shock rocked Pado that was felt over an area extending at least 60 miles to the

southeast. On December 3rd and 4

th, 1930, occurred the Pyu earthquakes. Since that time many

earthquakes have taken place, the old instable regions which for the sake of brevity are termed

Swa, Pegu, Pado and Pyu have from time to time revived, but in addition to these new ones have

come into activity near Kyaukse, Pyinmana, Daiku and Amherst. The alignment of the epicenters

from north to south along the edge of the Eastern Highlands is obvious. All these individual

earthquakes form part of a series of connected events.