Qualla: 1975 Bagan Earthquake

1975 Bagan Earthquake: Introduction

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

At 6:34 in the evening on July 8, 1975, the ground beneath one of Asia's greatest archaeological treasures began to move. The earthquake that struck Bagan, Myanmar, registered magnitude 6.8, and in the minutes that followed, stupas that had stood for nearly a millennium cracked, tilted, and collapsed. Burma's Director General of Archeology would later call it the worst earthquake in 900 years of recorded history. Art historians who had ranked Bagan's temple complex alongside Angkor Wat, Venice, and Florence suddenly had to reckon with how much of that comparison still held.

Read more: 1975 Bagan Earthquake on Qualla

1975 Bagan Earthquake: A Thousand Temples in the Crosshairs

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Bagan -- formerly Pagan -- sprawls across a dry plain beside the Irrawaddy River in central Myanmar, a landscape studded with more than two thousand Buddhist temples, stupas, and monasteries dating from the eleventh to thirteenth centuries. The Pagan Empire built them as acts of ...

Read more: 1975 Bagan Earthquake on Qualla

1975 Bagan Earthquake: Six-Thirty in the Evening

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The strongest shaking radiated outward from an epicenter near Bagan, hammering the towns of Nyaung-U, Pakokku, and Yesagyo, and reaching Myaing township along the Ayeyawady River confluence. Damage reports filtered in from Chauk and Natmauk townships as well. In Bagan itself, spi...

Read more: 1975 Bagan Earthquake on Qualla

1975 Bagan Earthquake: Plates in Collision

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The seismology of the 1975 earthquake remains debated. Depth estimates range from 84 to 157 kilometers, a spread that makes pinpointing the exact fault mechanism difficult. What is clear is the broader tectonic context. The Indian plate's north-northeast motion toward the Eurasia...

Read more: 1975 Bagan Earthquake on Qualla

1975 Bagan Earthquake: What Could Be Saved

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The restoration effort that followed the earthquake stretched across decades. At the Shwezigon Pagoda, one of Bagan's most important shrines, the damaged spire and dome were repaired and more than 30,000 copper plates were fitted over the structure to strengthen it against future...

Read more: 1975 Bagan Earthquake on Qualla

1975 Bagan Earthquake: Living on a Fault Line

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Bagan's seismic vulnerability did not end in 1975. The same tectonic forces that produced that earthquake continue to operate. In 2016, two more significant earthquakes struck Myanmar -- one in April near Kani, another in August near Chauk -- both associated with intermediate-dep...

Read more: 1975 Bagan Earthquake on Qualla