An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 has hit northeastern Burma, also known as Myanmar, killing one woman and shaking buildings as far away as Bangkok.

The quake struck at 8:25 p.m. local time Thursday near the Southeast Asian country's borders with Thailand and Laos, about 110 kilometres from the northern Thai city of Chiang Rai.

A woman in an area north of Chiang Rai, just four kilometres from the border, died when a brick wall collapsed on her, according to police Capt. Weerapon Samranjai.

Two earthquakes were initially reported with a 7.0 magnitude, but the U.S. Geological Survey soon amended its report to confirm one shallow quake, centred 10 kilometres below the surface of the earth.

"Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are highly vulnerable to earthquake shaking, though some resistant structures exist," said a report posted on the monitoring agency's website shortly after the quakes. "The predominant vulnerable building types are wood and unreinforced brick masonry construction."

The monitor said 600,000 people would have experienced shaking anywhere from strong to violent and moderate to very heavy damage is expected in homes.

The agency also noted that the hilly area is prone to landslides when seismic activity occurs.

The USGC report said the nearest populated centre where shaking would have been felt strongly was Mae Sai, with a population of 28,000.

The effects could be felt as far away as the Thai capital of Bangkok, where buildings swayed.

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Witnesses also said people were evacuated from Hanoi after tremors hit the Vietnam capital.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says the earthquake was located too far inland to generate a destructive wave.

By comparison, the January 2010 earthquake that killed 230,000 people in Haiti was measured at 7.0; two earthquakes rattled Chile in February 2010 measured at 6.8 and 8.8; and the Japan earthquake on March 11 was a 9.0 magnitude event.