AN earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale occurred near Taungoo in Bago Division around 5:12am on July 31.

The quake struck 176 kilometres (109 miles) south of the town of Meiktila and 290 kilometres (180 miles) northwest of the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology’s Kaba Aye earthquake station in Yangon, placing its epicentre not far from Nay Pyi Taw.

“Earthquakes of small magnitude are always striking Myanmar but 5.5 is quite strong,” said U Tun Lwin, the director general of the department.

Meanwhile, a businessman in Pyinmana, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Nay Pyi Taw, told The Myanmar Times: “I didn’t even know about the earthquake until later in the day because I was in a sound asleep.”

“I felt the earthquake,” said vendor Daw Cho, also from Pyinmana. “At the time, I was sweeping around the house and preparing to sell boiled beans. I wasn’t scared though because I’d felt earthquakes before."